Tarragona & Salou

Posted: Sep 15, 2021 | Updated: May 1, 2022

Tarragona was first occupied by the Romans in 218BC who called it Tarraco. Its rich Roman remains and fine medieval cathedral make this an absorbing place to visit. All the city's monuments are closed on Monday except the cathedral - its a pity I didn't know this before I visited.

Tarragona tourist attractions include the Museum of Archaeology and the Roman ruins of Tarraco, which has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Nearby Salou is a seaside resort about 10 km from Tarragona on the Costa Daurada, and little over 92km to central Barcelona. Aside from its string of beaches interrupted by rocky coves, and its landscaped promenade, one of its main attractions is the Port Aventura complex, formerly owned by the Universal Studios chain of theme parks.

Used as a port by Greeks and Romans, it appeared again in an important historic event, when in 1229 the fleet of James I of Aragon departed from the port of Salou to conquer the Balearic islands, thus creating the Kingdom of Mallorca and in 1286 Alfons III of Aragon also departed from this port to conquer Minorca, the last Muslim territory of the Balearic Islands. Later, Salou became a nest of pirates. After that it was considered an unsafe place, so in 1530 Archbishop of Tarragona decided to erect a new defence tower, now called Torre Vella.

The Highlights

Catching up a chance to meet up with an old friend in the sea and sun environment of Spain for a weekend.

Posted: Sep 23, 2006 | Updated: Feb 21, 2022

Tarragona and corpse

Reus airport serves as a provincial airport by the budget airlines as a gateway to Barcelona. Barcelona is about an hour away and is an airport I have often arrived at. However, I had seen that Tarragona is very near by so after reading about it became interested in visiting, largely because of the Roman remains.

I arrived at the airport with very little money, relying upon the cash machines in the airport for my needs. Unfortunately these were not working so I was cashless and some distance away from Tarragona. An English couple were happy to share a taxi until I told them I only had enough money to pay a third of the way. They then very quickly backed out preferring to pay the whole fair rather than two thirds - the fools.

With little hope of getting transport I prepared for the walk 8 mile walk to Tarragona. This is 8 miles to the centre but I would have come across a cash machine at some point though the first 4 miles or so appeared to be dual carriage way. Fortunately, I got speaking to another English guy who was visiting his parents and offered me a lift into Tarragona to which I gratefully accepted.

Tarragona isn't a very big place but there is a lot to see but even better than this, Tarragona is situated on the coast and has a long strip of sandy beach which I took a time out and snooze on. Not being a big tourist destination and with is being out of season plus this being a work day, the beach was quite empty and I could lie back and soak up the sun and relaxing noise of the sea lapping at the shore.

Something new to me also occurred while exploring. Outside the walls of the city I came across a corpse which had a couple of people and two police officers in attendance! I hung around as a keen spectator for about 10 minutes but no drama occurred so I carried on with my business.

I didn't have time to see the impressive, two tiered, 27 meter high and 217 meter long Roman aqueduct which is about a mile outside of the city. Next time, if I am ever here again, I will make sure that I do.

Tarragona & Salou — 1) Amphitheatre (1 of 2)

Posted: Jul 28, 2006 | Updated: Feb 20, 2022

Salou

Blackpool with sun is how Salou can be described. Grannies, hens, stressed looking parents and their kids occupy this patch of Spain in the summer. No matter as I was here to to spend a few days with Pat who with the realities of work and distance, limits our contact to usually Christmas and maybe the odd weekend during the year so a few unhurried days was a great way to catch up.