What you can see on the El Puerto webcams
Both cameras watch the beaches west of the town, where the bay opens to the Atlantic, and both are live. One looks straight out to sea from the sand at Las Redes, so the shoreline, the swimmers and the state of the water fill the screen. The other looks west along Fuentebravía, from the bathers in front of a beach bar to the low cliffs at the end of the beach and the coast towards Rota on the horizon. Between them you can see how busy the sand is, how calm the bay is and whether the wind is up.
Las Redes beach webcam, El Puerto de Santa María
Mounted above the sand at Las Redes, part of Santa Catalina beach on the western side of El Puerto, this live camera looks straight out to sea, south-west across the mouth of the Bay of Cádiz. The sand runs across the bottom of the picture, marked with footprints and the odd towel; then comes the shoreline with its small waves, the swimmers in the shallows and the open water up to the horizon, where ships can sometimes be seen far out. The logo in the corner belongs to a water-sports company with a sailing school on this beach.
Because the view is so close to the water, it is the camera for judging the sea itself: flat and glassy, or ruffled by the wind. Late in the day the sun lays a bright path across the water.
Fuentebravía beach webcam, live
Filmed live from the terrace of TK3 Beach Bar, this camera looks west along Fuentebravía, the most westerly of El Puerto's beaches. The thatched parasols and tables of the bar fill the foreground, with a wooden kiosk on the right; beyond them the raked sand curves away beside the sea to a low, green-topped cliff and a stone groyne at the far end. On the horizon, the long low line of the coast runs on towards Rota.
It is a good camera for counting heads on the sand and seeing whether anyone is swimming, and the curve of the beach shows how far the tide has come in. Facing west, it looks into the sun in the evening, when the water turns gold.
Sherry, Columbus and a castle
El Puerto is one of the historic homes of sherry: bodegas such as Osborne and Terry, both known for sherry and brandy, have their cellars in the old town, and several open to visitors. The town also has a place in the story of Columbus, who came here in 1480 and met Juan de la Cosa, later his pilot; de la Cosa drew his famous world map in El Puerto in 1500. In the centre stands the Castillo de San Marcos, a fortified church raised over a former mosque.
When to watch El Puerto
Mainland Spain is one hour ahead of the UK and Ireland all year. The beaches face south-west, so the sun sets over the water and the cameras look into the light late in the day; mornings show the sea most clearly. The levante, the strong easterly of the Strait, brings hot, dry days, and the westerly poniente cooler air and a choppier bay.
Around El Puerto
Las Redes is one stretch of the long Santa Catalina beach, whose sections are named after the estates behind them, such as El Buzo and El Ancla. Fuentebravía, the farthest of the town's beaches, is about 630 m (700 yards) long and lies at the foot of a cliff next to the naval base of Rota. Across the river, Valdelagrana faces Cádiz, and a catamaran crosses the bay to the old city.
Visiting El Puerto
Jerez airport is about 21 miles (33 km) by road and Seville about 79 miles (127 km). Both beaches are a short drive west of the centre, and a look at the webcams before setting off tells you whether it is a day for the sand.
