Plank Road: Cape Trafalgar

We had a great walk today through an interesting landscape along the Costa de la Luz. Our destination was the Cabo de Trafalgar or Cape Trafalgar. The soil is fine, deep sand which supports a wide variety of plant life including the wonderful umbrella pines. The path is along the top of the cliffs in the pine forest. Wild lavender and rosemary and a myriad of other plants were in bloom.

When the path nears the resort of Los Canos de Meca, it drops down from the cliffs and provides great views of Cape Trafalgar, the lighthouse and the beach. After walking through the quiet resort, it is a beach walk to the tip of Trafalgar.

Walking in sand is like walking in snow, poor traction and a bit more work. The weather was perfect and we had our lunch in a small cove on the rocks, right by the sea. Gazing out to sea from the tip of Trafalgar, I could not help thinking about the Battle of Trafalgar and what a scene it would be to see so many ships under sail in a large navel battle. I blogged about the battle in a post while we were in Glasgow years ago, but I will re-blog it here. This is what happens when you combine an interest in history with travel, you end up in places where things actually happened even though they can be considered in other contexts, like walking around Glasgow and looking at monuments and architecture.

The Battle of Trafalgar took place off Cape Trafalgar in 1805 during the Napoleonic War. Nelson commanded the British fleet where the British attacked the combined French and Spanish fleet.

During navel battles in those days, the ships manoeuvred alongside the enemy and fired from broadside batteries of guns at a range of only a few yards. The firing at close range was devastating for the crews as cannon balls tore through the ship killing crew or sending wood splinters flying. Masts and rigging falling on deck, fire breaking out and munition explosions were also common. Smaller weapons were used to shoot officers and crew on the deck. The ultimate aim was to lock ships together and board the enemy ship and fight hand to hand.

Nelson was hit by a musket shot, fired from the rigging of the French ship, Redoutable, knocking him to the deck and breaking his back. He was carried below deck and died after learning of the victory of the British fleet.

Our walk was about 16 km and took about 5 hours, it has been one of our best walks in Spain. The area is a park with great signage and there were quite a few locals on the trail as well as a large group of Spanish school kids. A few defensive towers are along the cliffs, we passed by one of them, the other was up the cliffs behind Trafalgar.

Tomorrow is a travel day, we are leaving the Costa de la Luz, and heading for Extremadura. We are going a few days early as we have had enough of the seaside, although it is beautiful and wonderful to spend some time by the sea, we need change. Our apartment here has been terrific, so we were successful during our rush to secure accommodation after our original choice did not work out.

Path through the umbrella pines