Tarifa

What a great surprise it was to arrive here, at the sticky-out bit of southern Spain, to find out that it nearly touches Africa. At the narrowest point England - France is about 20 miles and Scotland - Ireland is 12 miles.

Spain - Morocco is 14Km which is 14*5/8= 8.75 miles. Less than nine miles? I know, it’s quite surprising.

As a result, you can easily see Africa and we chose a pitch with a view at Torre de la Peña campsite. This was easier said than done as the wind was very strong and didn’t relent for the stay.

The haze made it tricky in the daytime although there were some fab views of the craggy mountain and the blades of the wind turbines could be seen turning. At night it was a revelation, with hundreds of lights, so close you could see the glow from them. The red lights on top of the turbines flashed synchronously, how do they do that? Through binoculars some illuminated writing in Arabic perhaps says “Welcome to Morocco”, 

The beach is Spain and the rest is Africa.

At night it is a spectacular view. The lights on the left are Tarifa and the bright light in the middle is the light house. All the other lights are across the water but the phone camera can’t pick out the rest, dotted on the hills from left to right across the whole width of the scene.

This is one of the best campsites we’ve ever stayed at. It is spotlessly clean and there’s a selection of pitches either next to the beach or on the steep slopes behind where major terraces have been constructed.

It’s a short drive back to Tarifa and we had a good day wandering the streets. It’s not very busy but apparently in July / August it is. We had a dip in the sea but the wind had made it very rough and we didn’t want to be washed away. As I watch the kite surfers, I want to be one. I assume it’s very energetic but perhaps not as much as windsurfing, when kitesurfing you are attached by body harness to the wing and your arms are ‘merely’ used for steering.

This is a ración that we ate with morning coffee and then later we had a little more at another café in a square. Sometimes holidays can be tough but not at the moment!

A couple of fast ferries run between Tarifa and Tangers. It’s only an hour away - tempting for a day trip but we decided not.

Should we ever decide to go on safari to Morocco this ferry is too small for the Landy, at least with the higher roof & box we are too tall. We would need to go from Algeciras (just around the corner opposite Gibraltar, to Ceuta which is a Spanish enclave on the other side.

A Dutch couple we met on the campsite went to Tangiers on a day trip as foot passengers but we didn’t see them afterwards as we had moved on. Rather coincidentally, this same couple had also stayed on the tiny campsite at Grazelema, at the same time as us. So we got together for a few drinks and shared our family and travel experiences.

Edwin is one of the pew people I have met who knows the story and influence on car production supply chains, of the Volkswagen Purchasing boss of the 1990s, a Mexican named Lopez.

The Lopez attitude to suppliers was along the lines of,

“I won’t pay your (Cost + Profit) = Price for a part. I will tell you my price and you need to make it for less than that if you want the business and make a profit at the same time”.

“Moreover, as you will be supplying the part for three or four years, you will improve the manufacturing process and so be able to reduce the cost of production and I will expect the price I pay to reduce annually over that cycle”.

That’s what changed in the automotive supply chain industry of the 1990s and why it was a very tough business to be in. 

We had some great discussions with Edwin and Bernadette and will no doubt randomly meet them again somewhere on a campsite!