Costa del Azahar live webcams

The orange blossom coast

The Costa del Azahar is the coastline of the province of Castellón, named after the azahar, the blossom of the orange groves that fill the plain behind it. Long beaches alternate with headlands where the mountains come down to the sea: the Serra d'Irta between Peñíscola and Alcossebre, and the Desert de les Palmes behind Benicàssim, both protected as natural parks. Its most famous sight is Peñíscola, an old walled town on a rocky peninsula crowned by the castle where the antipope Benedict XIII, "Papa Luna", spent his last years. In the north, Vinaròs and Benicarló are fishing towns with busy harbours; in the south, Castellón has its port at El Grau, and Burriana and Chilches look out over long, quiet beaches.

Who runs the cameras

In Peñíscola, a beachfront hotel and a family-run apartment complex stream live views of North Beach and the castle rock, and in Alcossebre a holiday rental agency streams Playa Romana. A hotel on the sand at Benicàssim shares its cameras through Windy, as does the Valencian regional tourist board with its views of Vinaròs, Benicarló, Oropesa, Castellón and Burriana; the beach at Chilches is watched by a local weather network. Most of these come with a 24-hour time-lapse, handy for seeing how the day has gone.

When to watch the Costa del Azahar

Mainland Spain is one hour ahead of the UK and Ireland all year. The coast faces east, so on every camera here the sun rises out of the sea, and mornings are the calmest time on the beaches. Autumn brings the heaviest rain, and easterly winds send the swell against the harbour walls of Castellón, Burriana and Benicarló. From June to September the sea is warm enough for a long swim almost everywhere.