VFrom the wide Mediterranean beaches of Andalusia to the rocky Costa Brava to the green fjords far north on the Atlantic Ocean: the Spanish mainland alone has over 4000 kilometers of coastline. Most of the coastline has touristic fancy names, but there are exceptions. A tour from north to east to south.
Costa da Morte – the “Death Coast” in Galicia
In Galicia, in the extreme north-west of Spain, the rough Atlantic shapes the flat, wooded rocky coast. Again and again it is interrupted by powder-white sandy beaches. The sea bays created from flooded river valleys cut deep into the land. Hence the westernmost portion, just above Portugal, was called Rias Baixas (‘Lower Estuaries’) and the northernmost section Rias Altas (‘Upper Estuaries’).
There are tens of thousands of mussel beds in the fjords. Between the two Rias coasts spreads Spain’s legendary Costa da Morte from: Galicia’s “Death Coast”. It got its eerie name because of the countless shipwrecks in the 18th and 19th centuries. In 2002, the oil tanker “Prestige” also broke up here, triggering a devastating oil spill.
Rough Atlantic: the Costa da Morte in Galicia has already been fatal to some ships
Those: Getty Images/Francesco Riccardo Iacomino
The name “Death Coast” comes from the British, whose many merchant ships capsized here. The name was first read on an English nautical chart from 1907. The coast stretches from Cape Finisterre, the end of the medieval world, up to Malpica.
The “Green Coast” in the north of Spain
Galicia’s neighbors on the north coast were less creative in naming their stretches of coastline. From 1969, Asturias tried to differentiate itself from the dry Mediterranean region when it came to marketing. And sought the attention of tourists with the Green Coast label.
Source: Infographic WORLD
Unfortunately, the reason for the overwhelming green drives away the Costa Verde but also many vacationers – it’s the rain. The beautiful sandy beaches are embedded in a picture-perfect landscape with gentle, green hills. The highlight of the Costa Verde are the famous sea geysers between Llanes and Pendueles, which are inevitably reminiscent of Iceland.
Cantabria’s ingenuity kept up with the Cantabrian coast rather within limits. The Basques also simply called their stretch of coast on the Cantabrian Sea Costa Vascathe Basque Coast.
A lot of rain makes the green sprout: the Costa Verde in Asturias
Quelle: Getty Images/Inigo Fdz de Pinedo
There are emblematic places here: The Shell Bay of San Sebastián is considered the most beautiful city beach in Spain. And between Zumaia and Deba, such bizarre cliffs and rock formations dominate that the stretch of coast served as a film set for the fantasy series “Game of Thrones”.
The Costa Brava in Catalonia is wildly romantic
Catalonia’s “wild coast” begins right on the French border Costa Brava. Steep cliffs, sandy beaches and partly medieval coastal villages such as Calella de Palafrugell, Tossa de Mar or Cadaqués characterize this section of the Mediterranean.
The Costa Brava is known to many young holidaymakers mainly because of the party stronghold of Lloret de Mar. But artists, poets and writers such as Marc Chagall, Picasso, Salvador Dalí or Rusiñol were already fascinated by the wildly romantic coast.
With pretty villages like Calella de Palafrugell: the Costa Brava in Catalonia
Quelle: Getty Images/500px Plus/Matej Kastelic
But it was the writer Ferran Agulló, who came from the area, who first described the almost 200-kilometer stretch of coast north of Barcelona in 1908 in the magazine La Veu de Catalunya as the Costa Brava. The name has been used as an official designation and brand label since 1965.
Gold colored beaches south of Barcelona
South of Barcelona spreads the Golden Coast from, Spain’s “Gold Coast”. The name, which a tourism provider first used for a brochure in 1958 to advertise the region, also comes from the golden sand of the long beaches.
The coastal town of Tarragona attracts visitors with its Roman city walls and amphitheatres. To the south is the nature and bird sanctuary of the Ebro Delta. But it’s the theme parks of Port Aventura and Ferrari Land that draw the most visitors.
“Orange Blossom Coast” between Valencia and Denia
what a name orange blossom coast, the “Orange Blossom Coast”. The marketing people at the Valencian tourist office had it easy here: the mountainous hinterland of the stretch of coast between Valencia and Denia is Spain’s main producer of oranges.
Peñiscola with its medieval fortress on the Costa del Azahar
Those: Getty Images/Paisajista photographer
In addition to the coastal metropolis of Valencia, the pretty coastal village of Peñiscola with its medieval fortress is a magnet for holidaymakers in the region.
Mass tourism on the Costa Blanca
Whence the name White shore originated has not been clearly reported. In any case, the “White Coast” was not named because of the color of the beaches. Rather because of the snow-white houses in many towns.
Crowded beach in Benidorm: The Costa Blanca is known for cheap mass tourism
Source: dpa-tmn
Another theory is that British Airways invented the slogan in 1957 to sell flights to Benidorm. Even then, large hotel complexes between Denia and Alicante grew into the sky. The beaches are grandiose and long, but also very crowded and built up.
Where the Mediterranean is particularly warm
Further south: At the Warm Coast in the province of Murcia we are now in a particularly hot and dry coastal region of southern Spain. The area was not only called the “Warm Coast” because of the average annual temperature of 18 degrees. The water is also five degrees warmer all year round than on the other Mediterranean beaches. Cartagena, which is well worth seeing, and Europe’s largest saltwater lagoon, the Mar Menor, are attractive attractions in the region.
The Costa de Almería has one of the most pristine stretches of coastline, especially in the Cabo de Gata Natural Park
What: Getty Images/Luis Dafos
Die Almeria coast again, for once, does not have an artificial name elaborated by tourism authorities. But it has one of the most pristine stretches of coast in the Cabo de Gata Nature Park. Dunes, steppes and cactus fields characterize the natural beaches. Close by is Europe’s only desert.
Sergio Leone shot his spaghetti westerns there, in the Tabernas desert. Sean Connery was as secret agent James Bond in “Never Say Never Never” on the Mónsul desert beach, Arnold Schwarzenegger fought there as “Conan the Barbarian”.
Lots of sun on the Costa del Sol
Costa Tropical – with this name, the tourism strategists have of course exaggerated a little. Nevertheless, a subtropical microclimate actually prevails on the coast of Granada between the Sierra Nevada and the Mediterranean Sea. Fruits such as pineapples, papayas, bananas, mangoes and avocados thrive in it. The coast is peppered with lively coastal villages such as Calahonda, Almuñécar or Salobreña.
Calahonda is one of the coastal villages on the Costa Tropical
Quelle: Getty Images/Ventura Carmona
Granada’s “tropical coast” has always been overshadowed by its world-famous neighboring coast Costa del Sol. Originally, it was part of the “Sun Coast” itself. It was the Austrian hotelier Rodolfo Lussnigg, who lives in Almería, who wanted to lure tourists to the Mediterranean coast between Almería and Gibraltar for the first time in 1928 with the name Costa del Sol. 320 sunny days a year spoke for the name.
From the 1960s, however, the region around Málaga, Marbella, Torremolinos, Estepona and Nerja in particular attracted masses of holidaymakers and was therefore internationally associated with the term “Sun Coast”. That’s how the communities on Granada’s coast decided about 30 years ago to give themselves the name Costa Tropical.
Costa de la Luz – a paradise for surfers in Andalusia
Andalusia’s Atlantic coast from Gibraltar to the border with Portugal has just as much sun as the “sun coast” on the Mediterranean. But because the term was already taken, they just called themselves Costa de la Luz. The “Coast of Light” boasts the longest, most beautiful and unspoilt sandy beaches in Spain.
The area around Tarifa is also a world-renowned surfing hotspot. Here the wind always whips through the Strait of Gibraltar. Africa and Morocco are only 13 kilometers away and feel close enough to touch.
Columbus unconsciously prepared his discovery of America in the monastery of La Rábida near Huelva. The miles of unspoilt sandy beaches have hardly changed since then.
The Costa de la Luz near Tarifa is known worldwide as a surfing hotspot
Quelle: Getty Images/Ben Welsh
This article was first published in August 2021.