Cala Arenas is a beach situated near the city of Algeciras in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, within the

El Estrecho Natural Park El Estrecho (The Strait) Natural Park (Spanish: ''Parque Natural del Estrecho'') is a natural park in Spain, located on the northern side of the Strait of Gibraltar. Comprising 189.1 square kilometres, it was declared a natural park in 2003. The ...

. It is located at the southern end of the Bay of Gibraltar and faces the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medi ...

. It measures about long by about deep. The beach is somewhat difficult to access, but can be reached via coastal paths from Punta Carnero and Punta del Fraile. It consists of a series of three small coves of similar appearance, with beaches of rocks and small stones. Both the terrestrial and marine environment of the area lies within the natural park. Its surroundings are largely undisturbed by human activity; the nearest settlement is the coastal community of Getares, a small outlying development of the city of Algeciras located about 1 km to the north. The beach is framed by cliffs and the

Isla de las Palomas Isla de Las Palomas is an island opposite the town of Tarifa at the southern end of the Punta de Tarifa at the southernmost point of the Iberian Peninsula and continental Europe. The island has been connected to the mainland by causeway A ...

(Pigeon Island) lies a short distance offshore. Geologically Cala Arenas is located within the Algeciras-Los Nogales unit and is part of the Baetic System in the

Campo de Gibraltar Campo de Gibraltar (, "Gibraltar Countryside") is a comarca (county) in the province of Cádiz, Spain, in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Andalusia, the southernmost part of mainland Europe. It comprises the municipalities of ...

. The local rocks are mainly composed of flysch comprising

marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, clays, and silt. When hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. Marl makes up the lower part o ...

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

and

mica Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is ...

, locally known as the Algeciras Flysch, that dates from the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

–

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

period. The rocks include various soft minerals, especially clays, marl,

calcarenite Calcarenite is a type of limestone that is composed predominantly, more than 50 percent, of detrital (transported) sand-size (0.0625 to 2 mm in diameter), carbonate grains. The grains consist of sand-size grains of either corals, shells, ooi ...

and sandstones, that have eroded to leave behind the harder limestones and thus form the chain of alternate coves at Cala Arenas. Several notable archaeological sites are located near Cala Arenas. The area has been inhabited for thousands of years, the result of its strategic position in the Strait of Gibraltar and the easy landing place that it has represented historically. A small

Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...

n port existed there, probably with a watchtower. A medieval defensive structure called the Recinto del Cerro de la Horca stood nearby, as did a 16th-century watchtower, the Torre del Fraile. The 18th century Fuerte de San Diego was also situated in the area but was destroyed in 1811 by British troops from

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

, who sought to prevent the French using it during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

References

{{Algeciras Beaches of Andalusia Geography of the Province of Cádiz Algeciras