Islantilla in the spotlight

Hotel facilities, a 4-star hotel, and a 27-hole golf club were built. Later, a rustic-style shopping center was built on the beach. The area is just over 20 kilometers from Portugal, 40 from Huelva, and 120 from Seville, not to mention Ayamonte, with its Guadiana River and Isla Canela beach. It has a beautiful promenade, separated from the beach by native vegetation and dunes, with wooden walkways providing access from the hotels and residential areas to the beachfront. Every day, you can also see fishermen unloading their nets, which they leave at night and retrieve very early in the morning to earn their daily bread. People live to the rhythm of the tides, and this means there is always movement and activity in the area. The sea is important and provides jobs, not only in fishing but also in the salt warehouses and canning companies in the area.

The beach, to the south, and the golf course, on an elevated area to the north, clearly distinguish two distinct areas. The southern part, on the coast, has four hotels, tourist apartments, and two shopping centers. In the higher area, the golf course is listed by Golf Digest magazine as one of the 100 best in Europe. It has a beautiful location in a wonderfully peaceful area and features three different courses, making it three courses in one. Designed by Enrique Canales and Luis Recasens, it is located in the main residential sports complex on the Huelva coast, with an Andalusian colonial-style clubhouse.

The extensive beach has showers, good accessibility for people with reduced mobility, and is certified with the Q for tourism quality. Islantilla has received awards throughout the Huelva coastline, such as the Blue Flag and the Blue Trail, awarded by the European Foundation for Environmental Education (ADEAC). It also offers visitors water sports, with two sailing schools on the beachfront, as well as outdoor sports such as cycling, tennis, paddle tennis, and hiking.

The local cuisine is based on fish and seafood from the important fishing port of Isla Cristina, which supplies fresh produce such as the famous and highly prized white shrimp, prawns, crayfish, mussels, and more. You can also enjoy elaborate dishes such as tuna with onions, baby squid with broad beans, ray with paprika, and a variety of seafood rice dishes, a wide range of stews, preserved salted fish, and tuna mojamas. In the fishing districts, there are terraced houses and beach bars where you can enjoy all of these. Not to mention the delicious clams and sardines.

And then there are the traditionally made sweets, such as coca, a typical sweet made from almonds, or the prized strawberries and red berries of Lepe in spring.

Being a relatively new area, it lacks traditional festivals, but it does offer other events, such as the Islantilla Film Festival, originally known as the Islantilla International Unreleased Film Festival. It takes place during July and August, screening feature and short films outdoors with free screenings. Its Walk of Fame, featuring marble stars dedicated to important figures in the film industry, is dedicated to this event.

Isla Cristina is a place full of inspiration and the birthplace of the famous singer-songwriter Manuel Carrasco. He was born there in 1991 and became known through the program "Operación Triunfo." Listen to his music on YouTube and you'll instantly be transported to southern Spain. His songs "Hay que vivir el momento" and "Que bonito es querer" are particularly well-known.