El Portil and Nuevo Portil are two coastal population units separated by one street, known as ''Laguna Seca street'', and managed by two municipalities, in the

Province of Huelva Huelva () is a province of southern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by Portugal, the provinces of Badajoz, Seville, and Cádiz, and the Atlantic Ocean. Its capital is Huelva. Its area is 10, ...

autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administr ...

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...

, in southern

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") , ...

. People differentiates on which side of the street they are using ''El Portil'' or ''Nuevo Portil'' as if it were the name of districts of the same town. ''El Portil'' is managed by the municipality of

Punta Umbría Punta Umbría is a town and municipality in the province of Huelva, part of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia. It is a fishing village located on the banks of the Rio Odiel river and across the water from the capital, Huelva. It is su ...

whereas ''Nuevo Portil'' is managed by the

Cartaya Cartaya is a Spanish locality and municipality in the Province of Huelva, (autonomous community of Andalusia). In 2010 it had 18,415 inhabitants. Its surface area is 226.4 km2 and has a density of 81.34 people per km2. The present town of C ...

municipality. The stable population, in winter, is about 2400 inhabitants about (1122 in Nuevo Portil and 1027 in El Portil) in 2016, while in the Summer season, is around 28.000. Most of them, tourists from the provinces of

Huelva Huelva (, ) is a city in southwestern Spain, the capital of the province of Huelva in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is between two short rias though has an outlying spur including nature reserve on the Gulf of Cádiz coast. The ria ...

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsul ...

Badajoz Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The populatio ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), an ...

and even the Basque Country and

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

. People from other countries prefer to visit El Portil and Nuevo Portil in Autumn, Winter and Spring seasons. Located parallel to the end zone of the Flecha de El Rompido, the main economic activity is tourism. El Portil and Nuevo Portil share a beach of 4 km long and 40–60 meters wide as an average. Further inland is the ''Laguna del Portil'' lake of great environmental value. El Portil and Nuevo Portil, since its inception as an Area of Touristic Interest, has always had a considerable number of tourists, mainly Spanish, but also many foreigners. Foreign tourists most seen by these streets come from

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

History

It was declared Center of National Tourist Interest (CNTI) in 1963. Initially the core of El Portil was the newly created urban environment. The area was known at that time as ''"Monte común de Abajo"''. Later, close to the 90's, the municipality of Cartaya decided to boost the tourism, previously started by the Punta Umbria's municipality, and created the population unit of Nuevo Portil. Previously,

was segregated from

on April 26, 1963, then starting then the growth of the population unit of El Portil. As it was said, El Portil and Nuevo Portil share the same physical populated area with tho administrative municipalities, -or two districts or population units-, because of the segregation.

Beaches and Nature

File:Playa de El Portil.jpg, El Portil beach at

twilight Twilight is light produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, when the Sun is below the horizon, which illuminates the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The word twilight can also refer to the periods of time when this ...

File:Laguna de El Portil - 01.jpg, Lagoon of El Portil File:Flamingos at The Porlil Lagoon.jpg,

Flamingos Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbean ...

at Laguna de El Portil File:11th-Hole of Nuevo Portil golf course.jpg, Nuevo Portil golf course The beach of El Portil and Nuevo Portil is a golden sand beach located in the

Costa de la Luz The Costa de la Luz (, "Coast of Light") is a section of the Andalusian coast in Spain facing the Atlantic. It extends from Tarifa in the south, along the coasts of the Province of Cádiz and the Province of Huelva, to the mouth of the Guadiana Ri ...

, shared by two municipalities, that of

and

. The beach of El Portil and Nuevo Portil extends over 4 kilometers of golden sand, variable width depending on the tides. It has been awarded the Blue Flag and the usual state of the sea is calm waters. Fine golden sand coincides with the end point of the mouth of the Piedras River and part of it is situated opposite the Flecha de El Rompido, which grows around eighty meters annually. Near it is the lagoon of the same name is listed as protected space. Bordered on the east with the Playa de La Bota. Most of the beach is urbanized and with easy access, even for handicapped at certain places. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the government of

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 19 ...

bunkers built in anticipation of a possible Allied invasion by the

coast, close to the Guadalquivir river mouth, located 30 km from el Portil and Nuevo Portil. You can still find traces of them at that place. This is the reason why the body of a "fake" Major William Martin, central act of

Operation Mincemeat Operation Mincemeat was a successful British deception operation of the Second World War to disguise the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily. Two members of British intelligence obtained the body of Glyndwr Michael, a tramp who died from eating r ...

was dropped out by the

British Secret Service The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

on April 30, 1943 on the El Portil beach. Even there is a grave on the Huelva cemetery where is buried the anonymous homeless used for the

hoax A hoax is a widely publicized falsehood so fashioned as to invite reflexive, unthinking acceptance by the greatest number of people of the most varied social identities and of the highest possible social pretensions to gull its victims into pu ...

. In El Portil there are natural protected zones known as ''Los Enebrales'' and the ''Laguna de El Portil''.

Urban, social and sport aspects

In the

district, there is a public sports center with numerous facilities: two football courts, a basketball court, tennis courts, paddle courts and a gym well equipped. In the Cartaya's district there are public tennis and soccer field from "albero", not grass, and several medium banks. ''Albero'' is the Spanish word for the same compressed colored sand as in the bullfighting arena. Life in El Portil and Nuevo Portil is relaxed despite the differences. ''El Portil'' seems more urban, despite its location and landscapes, because is where most of the shopping an leisure places are. ''Nuevo Portil'' is closer to a country side way of living. Less shopping, bars and restaurants mean silent places. The population is spread through communities/condominiums of different types and sizes. Among the largest communities are ''Entrepinos Urbanization'' located in Nuevo Portil, and ''Playas del Sur'' or ''Puntamar'' in El Portil. These names are useful to be oriented there. Also as differentiating aspects, accommodation is mainly in condominiums of flats and apartments in the ''El Portil'' district whereas is of cottages and villas in the ''Nuevo Portil'' district. There is a healthy competition among the citizens of both districts because there are differences, but in fact is the same area with the same climate, sea, light, and even kind and welcoming citizens with very small details such as if the sand of the district beach is more fine grained sandy or more clayish, or if the district is more or less noisy or if the citizens have to walk less to reach the beach because they are closer, or even because they have the cheaper restaurants and Bars. That is something that the visitor has to know to understand how El Portii and Nuevo Portil works socially and invites to investigate how the environment looks like using Google to choose the preferred accommodation. The fair of El Portil and Nuevo Portil is scheduled for mid-August and is organized by the City of Punta Umbria and Cartaya. Although it has not always been very prominent, in recent years, it is gaining importance and is demonstrating every year that more people like these events. Also at the night of San Juan in the early hours from 23 to 24 June is celebrated on the beach,

Health and transportation

The area has a public health center (in the administrative area of

), that is ''El Portil'', and two pharmacies, one nearby health center and the other about 300 m away, in the administrative area of

, that is ''Nuevo Portil''. If the emergency is too severe, it would be advisable to go to

and go to the Juan Ramón Jiménez Hospital, which is a large and much more enabled emergency room. Although this indication to go to

always have to be given by the doctor first.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Portil, El Tourism in Spain Beaches of Andalusia Geography of Andalusia Tourist attractions in Andalusia