Discovering Cadiz

                                                       Cadiz

What distinguishes modern Cadiz? One thing indubitably- the magnificent, 3 plus kilometre Constitution of 1812 bridge, opened 10 years ago this year, which links the city to the north-westerly mainland. It completes a triad of ways of getting into the city without a boat: the long, thin isthmus on which Cadiz perches, and the earlier late twentieth century bridge to the east.

But what else? The docks, in January , seemed empty apart from one or two cruise ships being face lifted. Little shipping was observable in the Bay. There’s a modern Parador in a fine coastal location (if you forgive large adjacent car park), but it’s not, in my opinion, a comfortable place to stay (based on a previous visit).

Cadiz in January is in hibernation, waiting for warm sunshine to fill its long beaches and its many tourist accommodations. And here’s the rub, as elsewhere in Spain. The anti-tourist posters are up everywhere. Cadiz has lost 10,000 inhabitants in the last 10 years, to second homes and rental apartments. As elsewhere tourism is both  economic lifeblood and social curse.

This January I was a tourist, part of a guided group. Cadiz is perfect for such an ensemble: small, flat and full of sights.

Cadiz’s history is very ancient- probably founded by the Phoenicians as a trading post in c1000BC; passing under the dominion of Carthage and thence to Rome in c 200BC, becoming a relatively important Roman Iberian city. The well preserved remains of a large theatre are to be visited, and sat in.

Cadiz was under Moorish rule for some centuries, but little evidence remains. In 1262 it fell to La Reconquista, and medieval and baroque Christian monuments began to appear, including its imposing cathedral.

From the sixteenth century onwards its fortunes were linked to Spain’s expanding empire in South America. It was an important but not yet preeminent naval base. It attracted attacks by Francis Drake, who carried off spoils of sherry, and a sack by Anglo-Dutch forces in 1596 (during one of the continual wars between Spain, Holland and Britain).

In the late 17th century Cadiz (literally) struck gold when the Spanish – South American bullion fleet was based in its Bay, after Seville’s river port was disabled by silting. The 18th century was a prosperous age for the city, and most of its great municipal and private buildings date from this period, such as the grand town hall and the wide-ish avenues that cut through the narrow streets and alleys surviving from earlier centuries.

The beginning of the 19th century was a tumultuous time for Europe and especially Cadiz. Napoleonic wars raged. Spain’s position was both complicated and disastrous. It was first an ally of France, and on the losing side in the naval battle of Trafalgar, following which the British blockaded Cadiz. Then Spain was the victim of French invasion in 1808 and subjected to a protracted war, part conventional and part guerilla. Britain became Spain’s ally.

As the French pressed on, asserting political dominance by putting Napoleon’s brother on the Spanish throne, Spanish politicians retreated to Cadiz, now protected by the British fleet, which helped neutralise a siege of the city by the French between 1810-12.

1812 is the year when the Cortes, the Spanish Parliament in internal exile, produced the famous Constitution for both Spain and the colonies (which were represented in the Cortes). Contingent on defeat of the French, this document was very liberal for its time, providing for universal (male) suffrage, a constitutional monarchy subject to laws made by the Cortes, and freedom of the press. (The Catholic Church retained its official position.)

Alas, in 1814, following the first defeat of Napoleon, the Bourbon king Ferdinand was restored to the Spanish throne and, being an absolutist, promptly rejected the 1812 constitution. There were a couple of fitful revivals. But its main legacies were perhaps to be found in the South American countries that gained their independence in the next few years.

The painter Goya was a supporter of the Cortes, the Constitution and the resistance to France. His Tres de Mayo depicts the reprisal executions in Madrid for an attack on French cavalry. The Disasters of War series , a number of small sketches, horribly documents torture and mutilation. Goya went into semi-exile when Ferdinand returned.

After the early 19th century period of turbulent fame, Cadiz does not appear to feature much in the modern historical record, although it benefited from the growing wine (sherry) industry.

100 years after the 1812 Constitution a huge monument was erected in a large square in Cadiz. It is a bombastic but profound tribute to the ideals of that Cortes.

However those ideals had not rooted themselves very firmly in the city itself. When Franco launched his rebellion in 1936, Cadiz at once declared for him. Its naval base helped in the subjugation of the coastal towns of Andalusia, especially Malaga.

The liberal 1812 Constitution was the very antithesis of Francoism. My researches do not disclose whether the former’s celebration in the now Nationalist city was somehow hidden (difficult). The square and monument survived.

These days the visitor can explore the narrow streets of the old city, crisscrossed by the wider avenues of the 18th and 19th centuries. But the best thing to do, in my opinion, is to walk the city’s coastline’s sea walls along a semi-circle plus from the dock area around to the cathedral. The path is good, following the circuit of the old fortifications and indeed past old forts (open to visit), with views of the Bay of Cadiz and the wide Atlantic.

Feb 2025