Three white villages and a castle
The stretch of coast from Calella de Palafrugell to the coves of Begur via Llafranc and Tamariu maintains a primitive beauty of white, blue and green, and the visitor will find a landscape in which escarpments conspire with beaches and cliffs.
Going from Begur to Calella de Palafrugell along the coastal paths is an unbeatable experience that we have explained in previous years, and so this time let us focus on what each of the localities along the route has to offer, beginning in Begur. While not strictly located on the coast, it is the starting point to reach coves such as Aiguafreda, Sa Tuna, Sa Riera, Aiguablava, Fornells or Illa Roja, and is a town that, as Pella i Forges wrote, has managed to preserve its “indomitable, constant and noble character”.
Its castle still guards the dramatic memory of Montgomery Clift and Elisabeth Taylor, who during one long, hot summer put this corner of the world on the map. Today, the area is famous for its Illa Roja nudist beach, which gets its name from the rocky, reddish islet that overlooks it.
Fascinating horizon
Beaches like that of Sa Riera and headlands like those of Punta de la Creu, Cap des Forn, Sa Nau or Cap sa Sal help create an irregular but fascinating horizon. Images such as those of Sa Tuna, a flat sea cove guarding the Begur cape, consolidate an impression that despite the speculation witnessed by the area, for now the traditional world prevails, a world inhabited by reefs full of lobsters and fishermen wise in the ways of wind and waves.
In recent years, the once bare hinterland has filled with second homes, but in spite of these sudden changes, the essential nature of this area remains, with its beaches continuing to provide meeting points, while the old towns are intact but have swapped their fishing nets and boats to become places for tourism and leisure.
Getting to know Fornells is a must, as is enjoying the intense blue of Aiguablava, discovering the harsh nature of Aigua Xelida and making a stop in Tamariu, a paradise of white houses and colourful windows, iconography that is repeated in nearby Calella and Llafranc. From the lighthouse of San Sebastià we have a view of the entire coast. On one side, escarpments, and on the other, beaches; in the background is the town of Calella, with its rectilinear shapes and orderliness, which has managed to turn the vaults of Port Bo into a symbol of personality.
Legacy of the ’indians’
On the promontory overlooking Begur, the castle of pre-Roman origin continues to provide views of a large part of the Costa Brava, from the Medes Islands to the many beaches. At its feet are the ’Indiano’ houses of Can Sora, Can Bonaventura and Can Pi, the legacy of emigrants who returned after making fortunes in the Americas. There is also Mas d’en Pinc, where the famous flamenco dancer Carmen Amaya died.
