Atún de almadraba is wild Atlantic bluefin caught in fixed traps off the Cádiz coast as the fish migrate into the Mediterranean each spring. It is the dish the province is proudest of: the official Cádiz tourism board calls almadraba tuna, alongside Jerez wine, the gastronomic icon of the province. One thing to settle before you plan a meal: the spring fairs and tuna routes are held at Conil, Barbate, Zahara de los Atunes and Tarifa, so that is where to watch the season. In the city of Cádiz the fish is something you eat, and the bay's own trap history is older than most of it.
What almadraba means
The almadraba is a maze of nets anchored to the seabed that guides the tuna into a final chamber, rather than chasing them with hooks or purse seines. Wikipedia describes it as an elaborate and ancient technique for trapping Atlantic bluefin (Thunnus thynnus). An academic study from the University of Jaén dates the art on this coast to the arrival of the Phoenicians, and the cave at Atlanterra in Zahara suggests people here knew the tuna's cycles in the Palaeolithic. ICCAT, the body that regulates Atlantic tuna, protects the technique as the most sustainable.
The Bay of Cádiz had traps of its own. An almadraba at the Sancti Petri islet is documented from the 15th century; its fishing station was promoted by Rodrigo Ponce de León, Marquis of Cádiz, passed to the Crown in 1493 and stayed active for much of the 16th and 17th centuries.
The traps were also a feudal monopoly. In 1294 King Sancho IV granted Guzmán el Bueno, founder of the House of Medina Sidonia, the privilege of setting almadrabas from the Guadiana to the coast of the Kingdom of Granada. The privileges were abolished for good by royal order on 20 February 1817.
Season and quota
Spring is the season, and May is the month the provincial tourism board names as the star month of almadraba tuna for gastronomy, although tuna cooking runs through the year. The four trap towns hold fairs and a tuna route each spring. Conil's 2025 route ran from 9 May to 9 June with 28 bars and restaurants, and Barbate's 2026 route (22 April to 3 May) offered a tapa and a drink for a promotional 6 EUR. The 2025 quota for the Cádiz almadrabas was 1,292 tonnes of bluefin. Dates and quotas change every year, so check the local route pages before you travel.
How it is cooked and cut
The traditional butchering of the tuna is called the ronqueo. In restaurants you will see the fish served raw (crudos, tartar, tataki), as encebollao, a stew with onions, and as ventresca, the belly. Morrillo appears on menus too; Casa Juanito in Zahara is known for morrillo a la sal. Order a mixed plate if you want to compare the cuts side by side.
Where to eat it in Cádiz city
The Cádiz-city venue we can confirm is El Faro de Cádiz, on calle San Félix in La Viña, open since 1964 and known for marinated tuna cubes with toasted sesame and salicornia. Check the current menu, because tuna cuts follow the catch. For a wider fish meal in the city, pair it with pescaito frito or a plate of ostiones de Cádiz. For the tuna routes themselves, take a day trip to Conil, Barbate, Zahara or Tarifa in May.