Top 10 beaches in Catalonia

Located between Escala and Sant Martí d'Empúries, Portitxol is a lovely beach surrounded by a pine forest that reaches almost to the sea. The fine golden sand and calm waters are protected on either side by rocky formations: to the south, the tip of Coves, lined by pine trees and large rocks in curious shapes that plunge into the sea, and to the north, ravines known as Muscleres Petites, which separate Portitxol from the neighbouring beach of Les Muscleres and Convent. These formations protect Portitxol beach and generate an area of calm and shallow waters, a kind of perfect swimming pool where you can take a dip without having to go under, and where kids can play.

In an idyllic setting among rocks and pine trees, the Illa Roja beach is known for its clear waters and the prominent reddish rocky island that presides over it, giving it its name ('Red Island'). It's a quiet, uncrowded spot with coarse golden sand and a pronounced slope heading down to the sea – and it's a nudist beach with international prestige, so it draws its share of foreign tourists. The only way there is via a lovely path along the coast, which, together with the wild environs and ravines surrounding it, contribute to its reputation as a small, hidden oasis tucked away in the wilderness.

Castell beach made newspaper headlines in the early '90s, when residents of Palamós started demonstrating, and then a referendum was passed to keep the area from being developed. Since then it has become one of the last unspoiled stretches of sand that remains on the Costa Brava. With a crescent moon shape surrounded by woods and crop fields, and the mouth of a riverbed in the middle, this beach is still exactly like how it was when the locals' grandparents enjoyed it, except for the added couple of 'chiringuitos' (snack bars) that open in the summer, and perhaps the nudists looking for a place to let it all hang out behind the rocks that rise up on the right side of the beach.

Commonly referred to as Waikiki Beach, Cala Fonda is one of the best preserved beaches along the Tarragona coast. This is a spot that's just a few kilometres from the city of Tarragona, yet it's completely unspoiled, giving visitors a peek at how the Mediterranean looked only a century ago. Cala Fonda is located in the Marquesa woods, one of the areas of vegetation with high ecological value on this part of the coast To get there you need to walk from Tarragona's Platja Llarga along an eastward, signposted path, surrounded by a pine forest, cliffs and natural vegetation.

The Platja del Fangar is an extensive strip of sand that is closed off to the north by the Ebre Delta. The Fangar peninsula stretches and curves as it goes along, to the point that it forms a large enclosure of salt water, creating an interior sea known as the Port of Fangar. The beach, semi-desert and pristine in appearance, is one of the most unique places in the Ebre Delta. The sand is ultra fine, and when it meets up with water it turns into a compact mass, perhaps earning Fangar ('mud' in Catalan) its name.