Tarragona information
The Costa Daurada
The countryside of the Costa Daurada (Golden
Coast) can be defined as one of great contrasts. There are unspoilt
areas of great beauty and interest: to the south, the Delta del
Ebre Nature Park and the Ports de Tortosa-Besseit National Reserve,
and to the west, the Prades Mountains.
The latter have large forested areas in which picturesque villages
exist in harmony with the nature surrounding them.
Between these two areas we find the Serra del Montsant, a mountain
range which contrasts with the previously mentioned landscapes
for its lack of vegetation and animal life. The scenery is one
of majestic rocks, nooks and crannies in which to shelter or hide
and picturesque hermitages. You can imagine yourself in another
age when these mountains were shared by bandits and those in search
of peace and tranquillity. On the planes of the interior we discover
a land of agriculture, mainly wine-producing, dotted with tiny,
isolated settlements and small hills covered in pine trees. Other
features of this area are stone houses, Romanesque and Gothic
monuments, buildings in the style of the modernist architects
and small towns which serve as social, cultural and commercial
centres for the interior counties.
On the coast we also find great contrasts, with light as the common
denominator. There are towns that have grown up offering a wide
variety of services and facilities designed to satisfy the most
discerning visitor. Some of these former fishing villages have
become real tourist "meccas". We can, however, still
find small towns where the main source of income is the sea, whose
growth is orderly and controlled and where the objective is to
preserve the best of the bygone days of these typical fishing
ports..
The beaches are long and wide and slope gently into the sea, with
few rocky outcrops. The sand is fine, golden and clean, as are
the clear waters of the sea.