The Costa del Sol includes about 300 km of the Spanish Mediterranean Coast belonging to the Provinces of Granada, Málaga and Cádiz. Recently, the Granada Province coastline was redesignated as the Costa Tropical. It is protected from the northern winds by a mountain chain which sometimes reaches down to the edge of the sea. This privileged coast consists of a series of large beaches, coves half-hidden among cliffs, sports harbours and fishing grounds. The mild climate, scant rainfall and the sea breeze produce a semitropical vegetation with frequent palm-trees, cypresses, oleander and hibiscus. The proximity of very different countryside - mountains, valleys full of orchards and the sea - is undoubtedly one of the main attractions of this coast, which has all the attractive features of the Mediterranean scenery and culture.