After two lovely days at our campinging spot with ocean views, we leave this morning for a leg almost entirely on the beach. Around 8.30 am, we will walk off the campsite and onto the sand via steps and decking. We will keep following the coast until the beach town of Matalascañas some 26 kilometers away. The sun is just above the horizon and it is unexpectedly clear this morning. Rain was predicted, but by the looks of it, it falls further on inland. A nice long stretch of beach lies ahead of us. There are a few early walkers, but mostly many fishermen here on the first part. Tall fishing rods stand in the sand. We could walk underneath them, but we rather walk around, just to be sure. The beach is filled with beautiful shells. Bending down with a backpack to pick them up is tough, and we try to keep up the speed a bit. No idea what it will be like for the knees and ankles to walk such a long stretch through the sand. But it has just been high tide and the firm sand runs fine. After a few kilometers, we see no one. We are alone on the wide beach with the sound of roaring waves and a few seagulls flying above us. Lovely to walk alone on such a vast beach. The view in front of us hardly changes, time seems to stand still for a moment.
And yet the kilometers are progressing nicely. We look back and can still see the tall cranes in the harbour from the previous stage in the distance. Across this point is Punta Umbria, a port town known from Operation Mincemeat and the recent cinema film about it. This is the beach where the Brit washed up during WW2 to fool the Nazis. Ahead of us, we slowly see the beginning of Matalascañas in the distance, even though we are only halfway through the trek. We make an extended break after 15 kilometres at the foot of the tall yellow and red sandy cliffs that tower quite high above the sea. Soaking up the sun with a view of the sea, we make a cup of coffee and enjoy our sandwich. This is another one of those moments we consider ourselves incredibly lucky to be able to do this together!
After the break, our legs and feet struggle to get going for a while, but soon we pick up the pace again. The closer we get to Matalascañas, the more fishermen, hikers and cyclists we encounter. One parasailor after another flies past, between us and the rocks. A nice place to fly on Saturday! When we enter the town, we walk past big hotels and flats on a small promenade. In the 16th century, King Philip II built an upside-down tower in the sand here, the Torre la Higuera, a defense tower against Turkish and North African pirates, which can still be seen. All further construction dates from the 1960s. Further development of this tourist resort has been halted, as the town is surrounded by the Doñana nature reserve. A large wetland that we will walk past tomorrow. Today, though, we are glad the stage finishes here. The walk along the beach is beautiful, and if you keep on walking on the firm sand near the water, it's quite doable, but it is a bit harder on muscles and tendons you normally don't use that much. But totally worth it!
