ELISA ROCHE finds elegant places for lazy indulgence in Arab-flavoured southern Spain

GIBRALTAR  airport certainly offers one of the most intriguing ways into Europe. After disembarking from my flight, I took five steps out of the airport doors and found myself back on British soil. To my right, bobbies stood guard at the Anglo-Spanish border, waving to the Spanish Guardia Civil on the other side.

It's the kind of scene that could leave any weary traveller confused but a burst of Iberian sunshine and sea air quickly brought me to my senses.

After a 30-minute drive I arrived at my destination, Tarifa, on Spain's southernmost tip, where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic. It is a safe bet to call out-of-season Tarifa a sleepy seaside town where there is, blissfully, little to do except eat, drink, sunbathe and go whale watching.

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Occupied by bronzed windsurfers and party people throughout the summer, during the rest of the year it becomes a haven for those wanting to drop out and just take a break.

I wandered along narrow cobbled streets draped in fragrant jasmine, admiring crumbling 18th-century buildings with their "rejas" - ornamental wrought-ironwork.

Tarifa was the first point of the Moorish invasion of Spain in AD711 and there is still plenty of evidence of its former Arab inhabitants, such as the thick town walls with their grand, Middle Eastern-style domed entrances.

One of the highlights of my stay was eating fresh seafood at one of the numerous tapas bars. I tucked into a delicious deep-fried shark ring at Los Mellis, on Guzman El Bueno Street near the seafront.

Afterwards I walked off lunch along the five-mile stretch of sandy beach, lined with wooden windbreaks and framed by tall seagrasses.

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The Dar Cilla Guest House proved to be the perfect base for my stay. It's actually a group of eight self-catering apartments set around a restored Moorish building with dark wooden shutters, a flat roof and whitewashed walls.

All have been decorated with a nod to their Arabian roots, with hand-thrown bowls in the kitchen and terracotta floor tiles.

Furniture is dressed with hand-woven cushions in rich reds and greens, while the compact kitchens are decorated with handmade, jewel-coloured tiles.

I was in the newest of the apartments, the loft-styled Amadeus with high ceilings and black beams. Minimalist and contemporary, it was kitted out with designer chairs, iPod docking station and large silver Moroccan lamps.

The sheltered private terrace proved a wonderful sun trap, although my favourite spot at Dar Cilla was undoubtedly the communal roof terrace of the central house with its day beds, loungers and unrivalled views: a patchwork of the Old Town's red roofs, the busy shipping lane of the Strait of Gibraltar and, on a clear day, the dramatic Rif Mountains of Morocco.
 
It was hard to tear myself away from all this peace to make the 40-minute drive to my next bolthole at Vejer de la Frontera, near Jerez.

The Casa La Siesta boutique hotel literally translates as the "house of sleep". Set in acres of rolling farmland and surrounded by wind turbines, the two-storey, haciendainspired property stands out proudly, with its pale plaster walls, duck-egg blue shutters and lush, manicured gardens.

While the Casa appears to blend in to its landscape, this is in fact a new-build, created in a traditional rustic style using reclaimed roof tiles and local stone.

The pièce de résistance is the lofty salon with antique pine beams and French doors leading to a courtyard.

The delightful owners, young Hispanophile couple Lee and Amelia Thornley, have impeccable taste and the house wouldn't look out of place in the pages of an interior design magazine.

Like all upmarket retreats the class shows through in the details, with fresh flowers in every bedroom and on every balcony table. In the simple but stylish bedrooms, the walls have been left as bare pink plaster, while the lovely floor tiles are reclaimed, antique originals.

Exposed beams and a stone walk-in wet room offer a timeless feel and every room has a small terrace facing the herb gardens out back. At night candles adorn the natural stone staircase indoors, and spotlights twinkle in the garden which are packed with olive and lemon trees for use in the kitchen.

I spent my days relaxing by the infinity pool and eating delicious dishes using local seafood, salami and fish.

For guests wanting to do more than nothing the owners can lay on group or private yoga lessons by the pool and in-room massages, or organise Spanish lessons and horse riding at the nearby Finca La Maya.

The sense of freedom given to me by my hosts had me wandering into the kitchen to make a midnight snack or a cup of tea, or kidnapping the couple's gorgeous Shar-Pei puppy to come and play ball in the garden.

As a nature-lover I was delighted by a small refuge for horses at the bottom of the garden where Lee and Amelia have rescued local, maltreated animals and a lovely white donkey. With guests regularly visiting them laden with succulent apples, the animals must think they are in heaven. And that's exactly how I felt too.

THE KNOWLEDGE:

British Airways (0844 493 0787/www.ba.com) offers return flights from Gatwick to Gibraltar from £140.

Europcar (0871 384 1089/www.europcar.co.uk) offers daily car hire from £22.

Casa la Siesta (dialling from UK: 0034 699 619 430/www.casalasiesta.com) offers doubles from £154 per night (two sharing), B&B.

Dar Cilla (653 467 025/www.darcilla.com) offers self-catering apartments from £81 per night (two sharing).
Spanish Tourist Office: 0207 486 8077/www.spain.info