Vies Braves was a one-of-a-kind network of sea swimming lanes and open water trails organized in the Costa Brava by Miquel Sunyer. Miquel Sunyer is the Catalan star of long-distance swimming. Having made sea swimming his life, he’s no stranger to the struggles of confident swimmers having limited ways to spread their wings in the […]

The abundance of excellently maintained hiking trails and routes in Spain is a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem. It’s unclear whether Spaniards cheerfully go hiking because the existing trail network is great or whether the infrastructure is maintained so well because numerous hikers would prefer not to go missing on said trails. Either way, currently, […]

The stone oak tree Alzina de la Font de Can Massanet in the pueblo of Vilafant outside of Figueres is one of the 250 so-called monumental trees (árboles monumentales) of the Costa Brava protected by the Generalitat of Catalunya. The tree protection by-laws that cover trees of exceptional age, size, beauty and/or historical value were […]

Many a Hollywood star from the golden age of film have visited the Costa Brava resorts in the last century. Yet, few have left behind a legacy that goes beyond a commemorative plaque in a restaurant or a vintage photo at a local museum. The incomparable Ava Gardner is one exception. In 1950, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer sent […]

If Gustave Eiffel had any idea with what piety Catalans would treat his creations, a certain 324-meters tall iron tower may have appeared in Barcelona instead of Paris. Even the Universal Exposition itself took place in the Catalan capital one year before the Paris Exposition Universelle. In the 1870s, about 12 years before the construction […]

The legendary artist Salvador Dalí and his muse Elena Diakonova, known to the world as Gala, got married twice. The first time took place in 1934 in Paris, a civil ceremony at a town hall of the 14th district. Since the Catholic Church does not allow second marriages until death do the separated spouses part, […]

A good quarter of the government-protected heritage sites in the Costa Brava are observation towers built in the 15th and 16th centuries. Late Medieval times were the times of the real and tangible piracy threat. The Costa Brava locals had become acutely aware of the pirate-bearing ships from the Ottoman Empire who were often after […]

The map of megaliths in Fitor The megaliths route – Fitor The dolmens route (Itinerànnia, route #3 in Alt Empordà) The megaliths route – Capmany (Itinerànnia, route #13 in Alt Empordà) The route of dolmens and lakes (Itinerànnia, route #15 in Alt Empordà) The megaliths route – Roses Dolmens and menhirs of Roses

Unlike Barcelona, where one can stumble across an Art Nouveau masterpiece at practically every intersection of central Eixample, the more rural areas of Catalonia (the Costa Brava towns included) have only a select few hidden gems. The rule of thumb to find them may sound odd, but simple enough—visit a town cemetery. Hard to say […]

There is no lack of sports games that involve tossing, rolling and pushing round objects around, from seriously athleticism-heavy basketball and hockey to more democratic pétanque, darts, and bowling where grey hair or a beer belly do not pose a significant disadvantage for the player. The games mentioned above are all familiar and recognizable, even […]

Biblical performances and mystery-plays are commonplace across Spain during the Holy Week (La Semana Santa). The tradition dates back centuries: the language of Mass had been Latin while not many people knew how to read, so the reenactments of popular Biblical themes were an effective way for the Church to promote the Christian doctrine among […]

The Costa Brava music festival Sons del Món (Sounds of the World) takes place every July in the northern part of Catalonia. Its core concept is so irresistible that you won’t hesitate to show up without even bothering to check out the lineup! The idea of combining music and wine tastings was born in Roses […]

In the old days, Costa Brava fishermen leaving for the open sea were never quite sure how long they would be gone, and so they packed everything necessary for nutritious cooking in the sea. There are countless recipes for high-calorie fish entrees—thankfully, not only were some of them preserved and remembered since the working conditions […]

The long months between Christmas and Easter seem to drag on and on in Catalonia, with no official holidays to look forward to. Not wanting to spend time merely with family, at work or following other routines, Catalans have come up with a few ways to amuse themselves. First, as is the custom among Catholics, […]

Less processed meat and sausages, more fresh fish and seafood—sounds like a great lifestyle change! It is so easy to adopt at least temporarily while you’re visiting the Mediterranean coast. And if your vacation happens to take place in the Costa Brava in May, you have even more choices when it comes to fish: in […]

The linguistic mine planted by Christopher Columbus upon the discovery of America — calling the Native peoples he encountered “Indians” under the assumption that he had, indeed, found India — has implications both for the English and the Spanish languages. No one has bothered to correct Columbus’s mistake since then, adding to the linguistic confusion […]

If we talk horses, would any famous ones come to mind? History knows quite a few examples, like Bucephalus (the horse of Alexander the Great), Rocinante (the horse of Don Quixote), the winged stallion Pegasus, a rare species of the Przewalski’s horse, as well as the Russian mythology’s own Sivka-Burka. However, do you know of […]

“Who cares, I’m only going to sleep here,” — this is my usual thought upon discovering the minuscule size of my hotel room. If it happens to be a luxurious 5-star hotel or a two-bedroom apartment rental, justifications like that are rarely needed, but the sentiment is still the same. We book hotels and rent […]

The Costa Brava is the land of bays, coves, nooks and crannies. You won’t find many open sprawling beach spaces here—the longest stretch of the shoreline uninterrupted by hills and cliffs runs for 15 km between L’Escala and Roses along the Golf de Roses bay. Neither is there an unending chain of hotels between these […]

A summer vacation with children is one of the most common reasons for a Costa Brava visit. The main attraction for this type of trip is most certainly the beach, but the Costa Brava coast offers other entertainment options aplenty—there is a lot more going on beyond sandcastle building, crab catching and seashell collecting! There […]

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) defines rural tourism as travel that prioritizes nature and places with low population density, where most locals are engaged in agriculture and retain a mostly traditional rural way of life. The terms agritourism and eco-tourism have a similar meaning but provide more nuance: the former is a type of rural […]