Cádiz

Cádiz is a port city in southwestern Spain and the capital of the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It stands on a narrow slice of land on the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula, joined to neighbouring San Fernando by a thin isthmus, and is counted among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe. Phoenician traders from Tyre founded it as Gadir, a trading post for metals such as silver, tin and gold, and its founding is traditionally dated to about 1100 BC, although the earliest archaeological layers found on the site belong to the 9th century BC. Julius Caesar granted its inhabitants Roman citizenship in 49 BC. In the 18th century its harbour on the Bay of Cádiz became the main port of mainland Spain, with a virtual monopoly of trade with the Americas until 1778. The walled Old Town, with quarters such as El Pópulo, La Viña and Santa María, contrasts with the wider avenues of the newer districts, and the city is home to the University of Cádiz. A 2021 census estimate put its population at 114,244.