Dune of Bolonia

The Dune of Bolonia is a sand dune more than 30 meters high located to the northwest of the inlet of Bolonia, in the direction of Punta Camarinal, on the Atlantic coast of Tarifa (Province of Cádiz, Andalusia, Spain). It was declared natural monument in 2001.

Origin and structure

It is an accumulation of sand formed by the dominant winds of levant when frontally colliding with the end of the inlet. The coastline of the Playa de Bolonia beach has a southeast-northwest orientation and the east wind raises and projects a fine sand current that sweeps the surface of the beach until it reaches the end of the inlet, where this current collides with the closure of the inlet, almost perpendicular. The end of the inlet has a small rock substrate, more visible to the west, and vegetation of pine and underbrush, all of which brakes the sand and causes the formation of the dune, more than 30 meters high and more than 200 meters inland, in a width of about 500 meters.

The end of the dune is more or less stable, in continuous struggle between the pine trees to grow and the sand to advance, but does not advance continuously, since the height of the dune exceeds that of the trees and the strong wind carries the excess sand away from the dune.