Route of the Pinar de los Franceses

Details of the Route of the Pinar de los Franceses in Chiclana de la Frontera:
Length: 3.5 km. (roundtrip).
Route: Linear
Difficulty: Easy

Beginning of the Route and Sight-Seeing Highlights:
The access to this path is from the zone known as Pinar de los Franceses (French Pines), that got its name from a French defence fort after the famous Batalla de Chiclana (Battle of Chiclana) which was freed on the 5th of March of 1811, during the War for Independence. This fort was named the Batería Colorada and is considered one of the many magical places in Chiclana.

This path runs along the border of the Bahía de Cádiz Natural Park, between the pines and the salt marshes in a grove of Eucaliptus Trees that help shade us from the sun.

The pine nut is a species that is adapted to the sandy ground, dry seasons, and salty air. There are so many of these trees because of the massive planting of them to build ships, mostly in the 18th century. This is the reason for the displacement of indiginous forests of acorn and juniper trees that today we only see traces of.

The pines of Chiclana were planted exclusively for economic means and to provide wood for the Bay area.

Both the salt marsh ecosystem and the pines are the most representative of our area, offering a rich, biological diversity that brings great interest to this route.


The pine tree is a small tree species that has the most extensive span over this region. Surrounding them are Mediterranean thickets and underbrush which are home to the chameleon, an endangered species.

All along the way, we can climb to higher ground which will provide us with beautiful views of the salt marshes.

In places where salt marshes meet fresh water, it is very characteristic to find reedbeds, such you will observe at the end of this route.