Political and cultural differences aside, after fleeing the
region's capital, the priority for most people is to lay a towel
down on a beach. Catalonia has around 580km of coastline, which
stretches from the rocky French frontier at Port Bou in the north
to the marshlands marking the frontier with the province of
Valencia.
Package tourism may have been born on the Costa Brava, to the
north of Barcelona. But the "Wild Coast" is very different to the
heavily visited Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol – and contains some
of Spain's most exceptionally beautiful slips of sand.
One hundred kilometres north-east of Barcelona is the one-time
fishing town of Tossa de Mar – which curves around a boat-speckled
bay and is guarded by a headland crowned with impressive medieval
walls – is today the most low-key and attractive of the bigger
resorts. Come early or late in the season (May is a delight) and it
can almost come across as undiscovered.
Further north, not far from the French border, is the
sea-sprayed, white-washed town of Cadaqués. There's a special magic
to Cadaqués – a fusion of wind, sea, light and rock that has long
attracted the creative. Federico García Lorca, Paul Eluard and
Gabriel García Márquez are some of those who have been inspired by
the town. However, it was the painter, Salvador Dalí, who really
put Cadaqués on the holiday wish list of the chic set. He once
described L'Hostal, a Cadaqués bar that's still going strong, as
the "lugar más bonito del mundo" (the most beautiful place on
Earth) .
Although man created a work of art when he built Cadaqués,
nature has done an even better job with the nearby Cap de Creus.
This easternmost point of the Spanish mainland is a place of
sublime, rugged beauty, battered by the merciless Tramuntana
wind. The odd-shaped rocks, barren plateaux and deserted shorelines
that feature in so many of Dalí's paintings were not just a product
of his fertile imagination. This is the landscape the artist would
draw inspiration from, described by him as a "grandiose geological
delirium".
Sitting roughly halfway between Tossa de Mar and Cadaqués are
the small towns of Palafrugell and Begur. In between these, lie
dozens of pocket-sized coves hemmed in by pine trees and lapped by
azure waters. Even the names of some of these beaches – Aigua
Blava, Fornells, Sa Tuna and Aiguafreda – sound exotic. And the
best thing is that on account of their small size and difficult
access, many remain largely undeveloped, hosting no more than one
or two upmarket, boutique-style hotels.
South of Barcelona, the coast is very different to the Costa
Brava. This is a region of apparently endless flat, sandy beaches
and, beyond the history-soaked streets of Tarragona, there are few
coastal places of interest. Until that is the Ebro, one of the
great waterways of Spain, mutates from stately river to become the
flamingo-tinted Ebro Delta; a confused web of channels, lagoons and
dune-backed beaches reaching down to Catalonia's southern border
and forming northern Spain's most important wetland bird
habitat.
Cities by the sea
There is more urban fun to be had outside Barcelona. Just 35km
south, Sitges is an old fishing village that's now a beach resort
and a favourite with locals since the late 19th century. It was
also central to the Modernist movement that paved the way for
Picasso. It now attracts shoppers, clubbers, honeymooners,
weekending families and, in July and August, Sitges turns into one
big beach party with nightlife to rival Ibiza as well as a renowned
Carnaval bacchanalian (February-March).
The sunny port city of Tarragona is a fascinating mix of beach
life, Roman history and medieval alleyways. Its top attraction is
its sea-facing amphitheatre and other Roman sites (
museutgn.com;
admission €3.25 per site/ €10.85 all sites), but the town's
medieval heart is also one of the most beautifully designed in
Spain.
Gourmet hot spots
Catalonia has something for all tastes, from simple beachside
shacks serving seafood to esteemed temples of gastronomy. El Bulli,
with three Michelin stars and a record five "Best Restaurant in the
World" titles, has closed. But others were quick to move in. One of
the best is El Celler de Can Roca in Girona (00 34 972 22 21 57;
cellercanroca.com; tasting menus from €130),
pictured. Its style is playful – try a "dry gambini", with a prawn
serving the olive role in a dry Martini.
In Tossa de Mar, La Cuina de Can Simón (00 34 972 34 12 69;
Carrer del Portal 24; tasting menus €68 to €98) has the most
imaginative dishes in town (try pig trotters and sea cucumber).
In the Ebro Delta, Mas Prades (00 34 977 05 90 84; menus €30) is
where gourmets from Barcelona go for superb delta cuisine such as
mussels and baby squid or rice with wild duck.
Dally with Dalí
Salvador Dalí was a boy of the Catalan coast, born in Figueres
in 1904. His art defined a movement and his presence still echoes
throughout the coast. The Teatre-Museu Dalí (00 34 972 677 500;
salvador-dali.org; entry €12), pictured, in his
home town, was created by the artist with the goal of allowing
everyone to experience his "desires, enigmas, obsessions and
passions".
In his youth, Dalí holidayed in Cadaqués, not far from Figueres,
and later set up home in the village of Port Ligat. His house, now
the Casa Museu Dalí (00 34 972 25 10 15;
salvador-dali.org; €11), is open to visitors by
reservation only.
Towards the end of their lives Dalí and his wife Gala moved to
the Castell de Púbol (00 34 972 488 655;
salvador-dali.org; €8), not far from Girona,
where Gala now lies in a crypt surrounded by stone elephants with
giraffes' legs and other oddities.
What lies beneath
The Costa Brava has some of the best diving in the western Med.
The focus is on the Illes Medes, a group of seven islets offshore
from the town of L'Estartit. Some 1,300 species of plants and
animals have been seen in the waters here, including conger eels,
rays and groupers.
The tourist office has lists of scuba-diving operators – Costa
Brava Divers (00 34 972 752 034;
costa-brava-divers.com) is one option; two-hour
trips from €35pp.
Where to stay
There are fabulous places to stay all along the Catalan coast.
The Hostal Sa Rascassa (00 34 972 622 845;
hostalsarascassa.com; doubles from €135,
B&B), pictured, overlooking the rocky cove of Aiguafreda, has a
handful of delightful rooms and a sense of utter tranquillity.
The Hotel Cap d'Or (00 34 972 34 00 81;
hotelcapdor.com; doubles from €103, B&B),
which rubs up against the Old Town walls of Tossa de Mar, is a
classic Spanish guesthouse with simple but lovingly decorated
rooms.
The Hotel Mediterrani (00 34 972 61 45 00;
hotelmediterrani.com; doubles from €130,
B&B) has swish, arty rooms decked out in placid creams – some
with breathtaking views of a sliver of sand on the edge of Calella
de Palafrugell, one of the nicest beach towns on the Costa
Brava.
The website
rusticae.es lists
more, properties with character along the coast.
Getting there and getting around
Barcelona is the main flight hub for the region, served from the
UK by easyJet (0843 104 5000;
easyjet.com),
Ryanair (0871 246 0000;
ryanair.com), BA
(0844 493 0787;
ba.com), Monarch (0871
940 5040;
monarch.co.uk),
Jet2 (0871 226 1737;
jet2.com) and Vueling
(0906 754 7541;
vueling.com).
Ryanair also flies from eight UK airports to the city of Girona,
close to the beaches of the Costa Brava.
Package holidays are available from a range of UK airports with
Thomson (0871 231 4691;
thomson.co.uk)
and Thomas Cook (
thomascook.com). Specialist operators include
Keycamp (0844 334 8253;
keycamp.co.uk)
for camping; Solmar Villas (0845 508 7775;
www.solmarvillas.com) and James Villas (0800
074 0122;
jamesvillas.co.uk) for rentals.
Getting around is a breeze; excellent trains run close to the
coast all the way from the French border to south of Tarragona,
with reliable and cheap bus services filling in the gaps.
For more information go to:
www.costadaurada.info,
en.costabrava.org and
catalunya.com.
