Note · 2026-09-15
The fishing villages that still exist on the Costa Brava
Where boats still leave at five in the morning: seven villages with a real auction house and better food than any rooftop.
The list
Palamos (prawns and the fishing museum), Port de la Selva (the last quiet auction), Llanca, LEscala (anchovies), Calella de Palafrugell (boats on the sand), Tamariu and, seventh, Sant Feliu, with its last gill-net fisherman.
The clock trick
The small fleet returns between 16:00 and 17:30 and auctions happen as they land: watching boats arrive and the auction is free and more authentic than any attraction. Afterwards, at 20:30, that fish is on the plate of the promenade restaurants.
How to move between them
Palamos, Llanca and LEscala sit 10-20 minutes apart by transfer; Calella, Tamariu and Llafranc form a trio walkable via the coastal path. An afternoon of fishing villages with a prawn dinner in Palamos is the excursion everyone repeats once tried.
Next step