Cádiz, Bay Of

Cádiz, Bay of

Bay of Cádiz, Spanish Bahía de Cádiz, small inlet of the Gulf of Cádiz on the North Atlantic Ocean. It is 7 miles (11 km) long and up to 5 miles (8 km) wide, indenting the coast of Cádiz province, in southwestern Spain. It receives the Guadalete River and is partially protected by the narrow Isle of León, on which the major port of Cádiz is located. Other ports along the bay include Rota to the north, El Puerto de Santa María to the northeast, Puerto Real to the east, and San Fernando to the south. The harbours along the bay thrive as commercial centres serving the rich agricultural hinterland; transoceanic vessels call mainly at Cádiz. Salt, obtained by evaporation of seawater, is used to prepare fish caught offshore for export. The bay used to be a shipbuilding centre, but since the 1990s economic activity has shifted to support services for the oil and gas industry. Situated on the bay are the Spanish-U.S. air and naval base at Rota, from which a pipeline carries oil to other U.S. bases in central Spain as well as to the nearby naval station at San Fernando. Oil is also carried to the arsenals, or dockyards, of La Carraca, just northeast of San Fernando, to San Carlos in Cádiz, and to Matagorda in Puerto Real.