El Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain

El Puerto de Santa Maria (locally known as just El Puerto) is a municipality located on the banks of the Guadalete River in the province of Cadiz, Spain. The town of El Puerto de Santa Maria is 10 km north east of Cadiz across the bay of Cadiz and is best known for having been the port from which Columbus sailed on his second voyage to the Americas.

El Puerto is popular for its sherry and for its beaches, which are the town's principal tourist attraction. Well known beaches include Vistahermosa, Valdelagrana, and La Puntilla. Like many other southern cities, there are many smaller towns encompassed by the municipality. There is also a major port, known as Puerto Sherry.

Things to see and do

* Bullring of El Puerto
* Castle of San Marcos
* San Marcos Castle
* Beaches

Cruise Season - Jan - Dec
Currency - Euro (EUR)
Language - English, Spanish
Population - 87,700 approx
Land Area - 159.34 km²
Electricity - 2 round pins European style
Time - GMT plus one hour
International Country Telephone Code - + 34

Port Location - The port is located within 2km of the town centre of El Puerto.

Transport Links - From the nearby airport (15km away) of Jerez. There are regular flights to/from Madrid and other main Spanish airports, but also some international flights: Ryanair serves flights direct from London Stansted, Condor from Munich, Air Berlin from lots of German destinations via Palma de Mallorca.

From Madrid the "Talgo" train runs twice a day and is a pretty fast and convenient connection covering the distance in just 4 and a half hours.