What you can see on the Platja d'Aro webcam
The camera looks along Platja Gran from high above, with the sea on the left and the beach curving away into the distance. The line of the shore is clear enough to judge the size of the waves breaking on the sand, and the beach itself is wide enough that you can see at once whether it is empty, dotted with early walkers or covered in umbrellas. Behind it rise the towers and blocks of the seafront, with the wooded hills of the coast beyond. The image is a photograph renewed several times an hour rather than a moving video, shown with the air temperature and humidity at the camera.
Platja Gran in Platja d'Aro
This camera from the weather service of 3Cat, Catalonia's public broadcaster, looks along Platja Gran from high above. The sea is on the left, the waves running in white along the shore; the broad beach of golden sand curves away into the distance, and behind it rises the long line of seafront towers and apartment blocks, with the wooded hills of the coast beyond.
It is a still photo renewed through the day, shown with the temperature and humidity at the camera and how long ago it was taken. The view is wide enough to see whether the beach is empty or crowded and how big the waves are, which makes it a quick check before heading to the sand.
From fishing hamlet to resort
Until the 1960s this was Fanals d'Aro, a small fishing village whose council sat inland at Castell d'Aro, around a medieval castle. In 1962, as tourism took off, the municipality renamed itself Platja d'Aro and moved its offices to the coast. The town promoted itself abroad with campaigns aimed at honeymooners, and it is still one of the busiest resorts on this stretch of coast, popular with Catalan families and with northern Europeans who own villas nearby.
When to watch Platja d'Aro
Spain is one hour ahead of the UK and Ireland. The beach faces east, so the sun rises over the sea and the morning is when the sand is quietest and best lit; on summer afternoons it is at its busiest. Out of season, a winter morning on the camera can show the whole beach with barely a soul on it, and after an easterly blow the surf runs white along its full length.
Around Platja d'Aro
The Camí de Ronda, part of the GR 92, runs along the seafront and then follows the rocks north past small coves to Sant Antoni de Calonge and Palamós. To the south it skirts the marina of Port d'Aro and the headland of S'Agaró, a garden-city estate planned for the Ensesa family by the architect Rafael Masó, before reaching Sant Feliu de Guíxols.
Visiting Platja d'Aro
Girona airport is about 17 miles (27 km) away as the crow flies, and Barcelona airport about 60 miles (100 km). The Camí de Ronda makes it easy to swap the crowds of the main beach for the smaller coves to the north on foot.
