Costa Brava

Usually it can be regarded as stretching from the town of Blanes, 60 km (37 mi) northeast of Barcelona, to the French border – in other words it consists of the coast of the province of Girona.

The combination of a very good summer climate, nature, excellent beaches and a favourable foreign exchange rate (before the creation of the single European currency), which made the Costa Brava an attractive tourist destination, was exploited by the construction of large numbers of hotels and apartments in such seaside resorts as Blanes, Tossa de Mar and Lloret de Mar.

The coast was named Costa Brava by Ferran Agulló i Vidal [ca] in an article published in the Catalan newspaper La Veu de Catalunya in September 1908.

Agulló, a journalist born in Girona, referred to the rugged landscape of the Mediterranean coast which runs from the River Tordera, near Blanes, to Banyuls with the name Costa Brava.

This area near the frontier is marked by rough terrain and cliffs, with small bays along the coast, in contrast with the large plains of the Alt Empordà region, where its capital Figueres is located.

At this point the Gavarres Massif meets the sea, with a coast marked by rugged cliffs, small bays and beaches amid coastal villages such as Aiguafreda [ca], Fornells, Tamariu, Llafranc and Calella de Palafrugell.

[6] The southernmost part of the Costa Brava belongs to the comarca of Selva, whose capital is Santa Coloma de Farners, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) from the Mediterranean Sea.

A few years after the Spanish Civil War when some sort of order had been restored, the gradual breaking down of Spain's international isolation in the 1950s cleared the way for new options in tourism.

The sea and the sun were drawing increasing numbers of people, which combined with the Côte d'Azur already being overcrowded in those days, enhanced the appeal of Costa Brava for holiday-makers who made their way there.

[citation needed] Pablo Casals, Manuel de Falla and Isaac Albéniz are some of the great figures who have left their mark on the Costa Brava.

Josep Pla, Federico García Lorca, Truman Capote, Salvador Espriu, Joan Maragall and Caterina Albert are just some of these famous writers.

Elizabeth Taylor, Ava Gardner, Orson Welles, Yves Montand and Douglas Fairbanks all graced the Costa Brava with their glamour, as did Salvador Dalí, Marc Chagall, Dani Karavan (sculptor of the monument to Walter Benjamin in Portbou), Ramon Pichot and many others.

From the early days of cinema, the Costa Brava featured in many films, which has proved on many occasions to be an added value in boosting its profile as a tourist destination even further.

These results are logical enough: the Costa Brava is a potent area full of beauty and diversity, located close to the historical city of Girona with an old quarter that holds a huge amount of visual possibilities.

Anchovies from L'Escala, prawns from Palamós, monkfish from Roses, blue fish from Sant Feliu de Guíxols, rock fish from Begur or skate from Tossa de Mar represent the sea, while turnips from Campmany, onions from Vilabertran and Figueres, rice from Montgrí, beans and peas from Vall d'Aro and apples from Girona represent the land in an elegant fusion of sea and mountain that constitutes the Costa Brava cuisine.

In 1998, the coastal towns of the Costa Brava signed a charter, called the Carta de Tossa, which undertook to pursue environmental protection, along with tourism.

Located in north of the Costa Brava, between the towns of Castelló d'Empúries-Empuriabrava, Sant Pere Pescador and Roses, this park is the second largest of its kind in Catalonia, as a great number of native species flora and fauna.

One of the main values of the massif lies in the extreme variability of environments presents significant result of altitudinal gradients and vegetation and the diversity of its relief.

The landscape presents with one of the largest concentrations of megalithic monuments in Catalonia, with small Romanesque churches that make this area one of the most rich heritage and history of the surrounding region of the Alt Empordà.

This area of great landscapes and geology covers the whole of the coast called the Lake of Banyoles, which separates the plains of the Empordà and the Transversal mountain in the region of Garrotxa.

The most important lakes of this system are its origin and source of the feed water through seepage of rain in some parts of the Garrotxa through subterranean flows caused his departure abroad.

The small archipelago of the Medes, located in the heart of the Costa Brava, in the town of Torroella de Montgrí (Baix Empordà) and close to the mountain of the same name, is composed of seven islands that are characterised by rich its marine ecosystem.

The proximity of the coast and the River Ter these islands provide a great amount of organic matter, allowing the variety of flora and fauna typical of the Medes.

Located between the districts of Alt and Baix Empordà, this limestone massif separates the bays of Roses and Ter, and provides interesting elements of ecological diversity to the landscape.

This area is occupied mainly by pine trees and weeds, in addition to the vegetation that appears not only in forested environments, but throughout the eastern fringe of the mountain, the sea.

The Marine Reserve of Ses Negres, located in Begur, in the middle of the Costa Brava stretches over 1,300 metres of coastline, including beaches of Sa Riera and Aiguafreda.

Presented botanical species of interest, the bell winter woods and some in excellent condition as they have been free from human interference natural setting of the island from the confluence the rivers Ter and Onyar.

This fauna, include the otter, genet and various species of butterflies typical of aquatic environments, and a variety of birds such as night heron, the kingfisher and lesser spotted woodpecker, among others.

The massive mountain range old and worn, covered with thick vegetation, has a total area of 12,500 hectares and is located within the Plan of Natural Interest (PEIN).

This botanical garden, located in the south-eastern slope of Mount Sant Joan de Blanes, on the cliffs, was created in 1921 by German scientist Karl Faust.