Let’s not fool ourselves, a significant percentage of Barcelona’s appeal lies in the fact that it is a city with a beach attached to it. How many cities can boast of having a metro stop that almost leaves you with your feet in the water? That’s why, in the heat of summer and in the melancholic winter evenings, going out in search of the best beaches in Barcelona and its province is a perfect option.
Because beyond the beaches of the city (which we also talk about), your umbrella, your towel and your paddles can be installed in some of the beaches that are less than half an hour from the city center.
Garraf beaches
We do not say it ourselves: part of this beach has been declared (this year, moreover) protected heritage: Cultural Asset of Local Interest. In fact, now the interest of El Garraf is to raise this consideration to the level of National, to the Cultural Asset of National Interest.
The Garraf beaches are attractive because of their proximity and ease of access, yes, but also because of their visual beauty. A row of fishermen’s huts stands a few meters from the coast. Huts that once served a purely utilitarian function (they were huts where fishermen kept their nets, rods and other paraphernalia). Huts at the foot of the tide, colorful huts.
Remolar Beach
The Remolar beach is characterized -besides being more like the Sahara than Barceloneta- for having a busy air traffic. Given its proximity to the Prat, you may find yourself reading Flaubert and be momentarily interrupted by a Boeing 737. By a Boeing 737 or by any of the birds that make up this dense ecosystem of birds: next door is the natural space Remolar Filipines.
Glorifications and descriptions aside, it should be said that if you decide to go by bus it will take you the same time as it takes to get to Zaragoza by AVE. An hour and a half seeing the outskirts of Barcelona. It is accessed (if you decide to do it by car) by a one-way road that makes you feel as if you were on safari: the road is almost jungle-like.
Roques Blanques beach (Maresme)
And although it could almost be conceived as a single beach -as a mega-beach of almost fifty kilometers-, it is not so: the Maresme (and each locality that integrates it, really) has subdivisions.
One of these subdivisions does not belong -in terms of immediate urban proximity- to any town. We are talking about Playa de les Roques Blanques, a beach that belongs to no one. This semi-secret beach (we are not going to say that we have discovered gunpowder) is between Playa del Pla and Playa de la Murtra, between Canet and Sant Pol de Mar.
Beach of Sant Sebastià
Sant Sebastià beach in Barceloneta may not be the best beach, but it is ours. The beach where many Barcelonesxs saw the sea for the first time is usually overcrowded, full of people, tourists, vendors, noise… And it is not always spotless.
But when it is, its waters are calm and transparent, some gray fish peek out there and you can swim to the buoy calmly if you find a neighbor with a towel to ask with the complicit look of a Barcelonian to keep an eye on things while we bathe.
Gavà beach (Gavà)
In Gavà Mar, 20 minutes by train or car from Barcelona is one of those beaches you think of when you think of a beach. An extension of long, smooth sand, integrated with the city and one more part of its fun elements. Restaurants, beach bars, hotels, sports complexes, beach bars … all in a comfortable and pleasant beach that invites you to plant the umbrella all day.
Platja del Pont del Petroli (Badalona)
The beauty of the industrial. A metal bridge walks towards the bottom of the sea while on the promenade the sculpture of a monkey, homage to the Anis that has made this beach famous. And between the two, a narrow but pleasant and cozy beach that not long ago was a residue of the city of Badalona and today is one of its flagships. In addition, watch out for the gastronomic escapades that the area allows.
The Cala Morisca nudist beach
Secret, what is secret, it is not. The Cala Morisca will ring a bell to any Barcelonian who likes to visit non-urban beaches. And it is almost impossible to discover something new on the coast of Barcelona: fortunately or unfortunately we do not live in the seventies. The word of mouth that is the Internet and the ease of access to means of transport contribute to the fact that it is impossible to find a virgin beach in the province of Barcelona.
Cala Morisca is not overcrowded. Which is appreciated being that it is nudist: it is not particularly pleasant to plant the towel and be in continuous friction or extreme proximity to the limbs (or whatever) of other people. Although everyone has their own tastes.
Ribes Roges Beach
A beach of fine sand, with shallow stretches of water, clear and not sloping shores, with good and accessible beach bars and, relatively, little crowded. Of course: relatively. I challenge the reader of these lines to find an urban beach with an occupancy ratio of less than one person per five square meters (for example).
The fact is that Ribes Roges is not an overcrowded beach. And it is not because it is longer than a day without bread. In total one kilometer of flat and wide beach, like any of the Castillas. In total, also, 135,000 square meters of sand.
Castelldefels Beach
One of the most popular beaches for a getaway because of its proximity to Barcelona. It is just 20-25 minutes by train from Sants station, just five minutes walk from Castelldefels-Platja station and falls in love because it is an extensive beach of fine sand that stretches for about 5 kilometers, making it an ideal place to make a classic beach day.
It is also a small paradise for lovers of water sports, especially windsurfing and kitesurfing, thanks to the constant winds that blow in the area. For those who want to stay on the sand, the beach is well equipped with showers, toilets, umbrellas and hammocks for rent, and a wide range of beach bars and restaurants on the beach.
Platja de l’Home Mort (Sitges)
A small cove hidden between cliffs, with somewhat complicated but very special access. Traditionally frequented by LGTBIQ+ public, it has an open air, wild and very quiet. Naturist.