By Zoë Ouwehand-Reid

The name Tarifa is taken from the name of the Berber, Tarif Ben Malluk, who crossed from Morocco to land in Spain in 710 and established the harbour here. The area remained under Muslim domination until 1292 when the Christian king Sancho 1V conquered the city. His statue is outside the castle entrance.

The city then had 9000 inhabitants.

In 1294 a new Muslim army besieged the fortress of Tarifa which was then defended with success by Alonso Pérez de Guzman who sacrificed his son for the cause. He is known as Guzman El Bueno, with a statue to his name in the Alameda.
Intermittent battles between Muslims and Christians continued , the final defeat of the Muslims only taking place in 1340.

Today (2007) Tarifa has a population of around 16.000 residents (which practically doubles in the months of July and August with the tourist influx).

The first human traces in Tarifa Spain go back to the Palaeolithic era. There are some very interesting carvings of this period -dating back more than 18,000 years- to be seen in the area, and a book on these is available should guests wish. The location of some megalithic tombs is described in the Guest folder.

The city walls were constructed between the 10th and the 12th century. The most important reconstruction took place in the 18th century, and in 2006 more work took place on these walls, part of which were then painted yellow.
The castle of Guzman El Bueno was built in 960 AD by the Caliph Abderramán 111 on what are thought to be the ruins of a Roman military camp. The last siege of the town and this castle occurred in 1812 when Napoleon’s troops failed to overcome Tarifa’s tenacious resistance. The reconstruction of the castle is scheduled to be completed towards the end of 2008 when it will again open for tourist visits and will house the Tourist Information Centre as well as opening for cultural events.

The Church of San Mateo was originally built in the 16th century and is largely of late Gothic style with a neo-classic facade being terminated in the 17th century.

Tarifa Spain was predominantly a fishing village with its colourful fleet occupying the harbour, until some 25 years ago when the first of the windsurfers discovered Tarifa and introduced tourism which is now Tarifa’s main source of income. The harbour became an international ‘Schengen’ harbour some 4 years ago, and more and more ferries are making the 35 minute crossing from here to Tangier. However, the infrastructure of Tarifa is not yet sufficient to accommodate the mass re-migration of Moroccans going home from Europe for the summer, so until an autoroute linking Algeciras with Tarifa is completed such traffic cannot leave from Tarifa between mid July and mid August.

Plans for this autoroute are in an advanced stage. Plans for an eventual tunnel linking Morocco with Europe (Spain/Tarifa) in the course of the next 20 years are regularly under discussion.

More on Tarifa inside

An Overview
A brief history
Things to do
Tarifa beaches
Weather Tarifa
Tarifa restaurants

More on Tarifa Inside Out and Round About

Outside
Round About
Further Afield
Morocco

About Zoë and her guesthouse

Zoë is the owner of Guesthouse Dar Cilla which is unique of its sort in Tarifa. It is located on the outskirts of the old town within the old 12th century walls. 'Dar' is an Arabic word for a town house in which a series of suites are grouped around a central courtyard. Each suite is fully independent, but there is a pleasant air of 'sociability' and you will meet Zoë and fellow guests on the roof terrace over a glass of wine.

More about Zoë
More about Guesthouse Dar Cilla