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Calella de Palafrugell has an excellent setting and, whilst busy in the summer season, it does not have the large hotels and mass tourism of other Costa Brava resorts such as Lloret de Mar. The town's origin is that of a fishing village, and its old maritime quarter, the Port Bo has been declared a cultural asset of national importance.
This quarter retains the original layout of the village, with its traditional white porched buildings. It includes the complex of vaults, originally used to sew nets and auction fish, but now occupied by restaurants.
The vaults are fronted by the beaches of Platja del Port de Malaspina and Platja de Portbò, which formed a natural fishing port and are still home to a fleet of small fishing boats. Also in Port Bo is the Sa Perola Interpretation Centre, housed in a former net dyeing house and now used as a tourist office and interpretation centre for the fishing industry and maritime heritage of the district.
Calella de Palafrugell has a number of small coves and beaches linked via a well engineered coastal walk known as the Camí de Ronda, passing along the cliffs and through several tunnels on the way. From the north the first of the beaches is Platja del Canadell, with its beach restaurant.
Platja del Port de Malaspina, Platja de Portbò and Platja d'en Calau are linked sandy coves located in the centre of Calella. These are followed by Platgeta d'en Cosme, Platja de Port Pelegrí, Platja de Sant Roc and Platja del Golfet, the last of which is approximately 1.5 kilometres from central Calella.
Beyond Platja del Golfet is the Cap Roig headland, where the Castell de Cap Roig is situated, surrounded by large botanical gardens. The castle has also been declared a cultural asset of national importance. The castle was built, and the gardens created, between 1929 and 1975, by Nicholas Woevodski and Dorothy Webster. The Cap Roig Festival, a music and dance festival, is held in the gardens between July and August.
The GR 92 long-distance footpath, which runs the length of the Mediterranean coast, passes along the Camí de Ronda. To the north of Platja del Canadell the path follows the coast the short distance to Llafranc, passing the 16th century Torre de Calella on the way. To the south the path takes an inland route from Platja del Golfet, bypassing Cap Roig through pine and cork oak forests to the fisherman's village at S'Alguer and the beach at La Fosca.
More information: Visit Palafrugell
Castell d'Aro, Platja d'Aro i S'Agaró is a municipality in the middle of the Costa Brava in Catalonia.
It is formed from two parts: Castell d'Aro is an ancient village built around a medieval castle and a fortified church, 3 km inland on the road from Platja d'Aro to Santa Cristina d'Aro; and Platja d'Aro is a coastal town on the road from Palamós to Sant Feliu de Guíxols which stretches along a large 2 km beach.
Originally a small fishing village, Platja d'Aro is now a major coastal resort, popular predominantly with Catalans and villa-owning Northern Europeans.
Along the coast, connecting the main beach with numerous small beaches, is the Camí de Ronda. This ancient path now forms part of the GR 92 long distance footpath, which runs the length of the Mediterranean coast. It passes along the seafront promenade of Platja d'Aro.
To the north the path follows the rocky coastline and crosses several beaches to reach the southern end of the beachside promenade of Sant Antoni de Calonge. To the south it diverts around the extensive Marina de Port d'Oro and crosses the Platja de Sa Conca before following the coastline around the headland of S'Agaró to the resort of the same name.
Castell d'Aro is located in the heart of the Costa Brava, 80 km north of Barcelona. It borders with Calonge to the north, Santa Cristina d'Aro to the west, Sant Feliu to the south and the Coast to the East.
Castell-Platja d'Aro occupies the eastern end of the Vall d'Aro, a narrow plain drained by the river Ridaura and located between the Mountain ranges of Cadiretes and southern end of the Gavarres.
Platja d'Aro was originally a small fishing village on the highway between Palamós and Sant Feliu de Guíxols with a 2 km long beach. It is now a major tourist resort with hotels and other commercial premises.
The first evidence of human habitation are a number of tombs dating from the neolithic era 2500 BC in the Pinell area. Around 2000 BC, towards the end of the neolithic period, groups of humans settled in the mountains of Treumal and Vallvanera. There are a number of monuments from this period, including the menhir of Vallbanera and the dolmen Cova dels Moros (Cove of the Moors).
Roman ruins were discovered at the Vila de Pla de Palol dating from the 1st-4th Centuries AD. These occupy an area of 10,000 m2, and retain the majority of the patios and open spaces. The villa was part of a large agricultural estate including vineyards. It also exported clay for the manufacture of ceramics that were later exported by sea from the natural harbor of Cove Rovira.
From the 9th century the countryside started to recover from Sarracen raids and the repopulation of the Vall d'Aro began. The first arrivals were farmers.
In 781, Charlemagne offered the Bishop of Girona the territory of the Vall d'Aro. The first documented reference of Platja d'Aro, in its original name of Fanals d'Amunt, appears in 968.
King Lothair I confirmed his possessions to Sunyer, the Abbot of the monastery of Sant Feliu de Guíxols, including Fanals d'Amunt and its church. The origin of Castell d'Aro is the Castle of Benedormiens. The Castle was first documented in 1041, when the religious authorities, the local Knights and Nobles granted the monastery of Sant Feliu de Guíxols the safekeeping of the castle with the obligation to protect all the Vall d'Aro, of which Fanals was an important part.
In 1585, a new church was built in Fanals de Baix, the present Fanals d'Aro. A new settlement grew around this building deserting the older Fanals d'Amunt.
In 1774, an extension was completed to the Church of Fanals d'Aro.
During the following centuries only one municipality existed, in 1858 the area was divided with Romanyà, Bell-lloc, Santa Cristina d'Aro and Solius becoming separate from Castell d'Aro and Fanals d'Aro. This is regarded as the official creation of the two cities, Santa Cristina de Aro and Castell d'Aro.
In 1843 the district was characterized by high rents, a centralized municipal model with limited suffrage.
The elections of 1869 reflected the federal and republican character of Empordà and Fanals. As a result, constitutional guarantees were suspended and disarmament of the popular military service ordered by Central Government. The federalists took up arms supported by the inhabitants of Fanals, they participated in the Foc de Bisbal, where they faced a number of government forces.
Between 1892 and 1969, Castell d'Aro was connected to the city of Girona and the port of Sant Feliu de Guíxols by the narrow gauge Sant Feliu de Guíxols-Girona railway. The line has since been converted into a greenway.
In 1970, the City Council, owner of the Castle of Benedormiens de Castell d'Aro, ordered its first restoration. The oldest part was conserved dating from the 12th century. In 1978 a Carnival Fiesta and in 1979 the first democratic Council was elected.
In 1983, the rooms of the Castle of Benedormiens were altered for exhibition space.
In 1995, the old nucleus of Castell was declared as an official area of interest and conservation area by the Generalitat de Catalunya, together with S'Agaró.
According to the Köppen Climate Classification, Castell-Platja d'Aro has a hot-summer mediterranean climate (Csa).
Castell-Platja d'Aro is located in a seismic zone, which means that occasionally quakes are felt but, most of them are just small vibrations or light shaking.
More information: Costa Brava Lifestyle
A journey through the Mediterranean is
not only inspiring and stimulating, it is also humbling.
The men and women who created antique treasures
for us to marvel at had to deal with plague, genocide,
a world without writing, iron tools, or penicillin
-and yet they made something extraordinary
of their life and times.
Bettany Hughes
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