Caleta Beach is located in the historic center of the city of Cádiz, a natural port where Phoenician, Carthaginian and Roman ships anchored next to the channel that separated the archipelago of the islands (Eritea and Cotinusa, as Cadiz was known. It is the smallest in the city, isolated from the rest of the city's beaches.
Its magnificent location has inspired musicians and poets such as Isaac Albéniz, José María Pemán, Paco Alba, Carlos Cano and Dheformer Galinier. It is flanked by the castles of San Sebastián and Santa Catalina, opposite the old Hospital de Mora, the Faculty of Economics and Business and next to the Faculty of Labor Sciences of the Cadiz Campus of the University of Cadiz, in the heart of the La Viña neighborhood. Its main The building is the old spa, currently the headquarters of the Andalusian Centre for Underwater Archaeology, which forms part of almost the entire beach and is a meeting place for the people of Cadiz and its visitors, as well as the setting for several films, such as Muere otro día, Alatriste, Manolete and El amor brujo.
At the end of the 18th century, for military reasons, it was necessary for the ships that anchored in La Caleta to be able to quickly go to the Campo del Sur area, and in 1797 a straight channel was dug that was navigable even at low tide, which prevented them from having to go all the way around the castle of San Sebastián.
In 1860 the castle's defences were improved and a jetty was built to permanently link it to the city from the La Caleta gate, now the Fernando Quiñones promenade.At the tip of Erytheia is the Castle of Santa Catalina, the first of the fortifications built to defend the city just after the Anglo-Dutch invasion, then a military prison until the end of the 80s and today a centre for cultural activities.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the Balneario del Real (wooden structure) was built as an alternative leisure activity, but was demolished after a century due to its poor condition.
In 1959, the Caleta Club was founded, dedicated to different maritime leisure activities. In 1990, to recover the beach area it occupied, the facilities were placed within the wall and a dock was built.
For almost 40 years, as a farewell party to summer, the Burial of the Mackerel has been celebrated on the beach at the end of August, where a figure of a mackerel is taken out in a procession and set on fire with its corresponding piriñaca, with performances by carnival groups.
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