Santa Susanna · Costa del Maresme
The stretch of sea that begins at our door and runs north into the Costa Brava — small beaches, fishing ports, cliffs, each with its own weather.
At the end of July, the bay fills with smoke, music, and people. Five nights, pyrotechnic teams from around the world, one of Europe's oldest fireworks competitions, running since the nineteenth century.
The rockets are launched from Sa Palomera, the rock where the Costa Brava begins. Each night, the beaches and terraces fill with people.
Outside that one week, Blanes is a real Mediterranean town — a long promenade, a medieval castle above the bay, and the Marimurtra botanical garden on the cliffs. It is worth visiting in any season.
At the beginning of October, the stretch of coast beside us becomes the finish line of one of Europe's best-known long-distance triathlons — IRONMAN Barcelona.
Athletes from around the world swim into the Mediterranean at sunrise, cycle along the Maresme coast, and finish with a marathon on Calella beach. From a villa a few kilometres away, the whole weekend takes on a quiet energy of its own.
Calella also anchors the Carnaval de l'Alt Maresme in late February and La Minerva in September — a small seaside town with a surprisingly full festive calendar.
A medieval fortress rising straight above the sea — one of the few fortified fishing towns still standing on the Costa Brava. Walk the walls in late afternoon.
In mid-January, one of the town's oldest traditions quietly unfolds — the Pelegrí. One man walks forty kilometres inland to a chapel of Sant Sebastià and returns the next day, fulfilling a vow made against the plague in the fifteenth century. It ends with a torchlit procession along the old walls.
