What you can see on the Sant Pol de Mar webcam
The camera looks south-east over Platja de les Barques, the "beach of the boats". Small craft and kayaks are pulled up in rows on the sand, a low stone breakwater runs out on the left, and beyond it the sea opens to the horizon. Overhead wires in the foreground belong to the railway, which runs between the village and the beach along this whole coast. The image is a still photo published through Windy, which keeps a 24-hour time-lapse so you can scroll back through the day.
Sant Pol de Mar webcam: Platja de les Barques
Set on a balcony at the back of the beach, this private weather camera looks south-east over Platja de les Barques. Rows of small boats and sailing dinghies sit on the sand on the left, a cluster of colourful kayaks lies on the right, and a low stone breakwater curls out into the sea behind them. The overhead line of the coastal railway crosses the foreground.
With the morning sun almost straight ahead, the first images of the day are bright and silvery; the sea's colour and the line of surf come through more clearly from late morning. It is handy for seeing whether the water is flat enough for a paddle and how many boats have gone out. The time and date are printed in the top corner.
A beach for boats
For centuries the people of the Maresme fished from open beaches with no harbour, and Sant Pol is one of the places where that habit survives. The boats on Platja de les Barques are still pulled up out of the water onto the sand, and information boards on the promenade tell the story of the fishermen and of how the boats were launched and beached. Above the village, the chapel of Sant Pau stands on its hill and is the classic viewpoint over the coast.
When to watch Sant Pol de Mar
Spain is one hour ahead of the UK and Ireland. Facing south-east, Platja de les Barques gets the first light of the day, and on the camera the rising sun often lays a dazzling path across the water. Summer days are calm and hazy, while easterly storms in autumn and winter send waves crashing over the breakwater.
Around Sant Pol de Mar
Calella, with its long beach, lighthouse and busy promenade, is about 2 miles (3 km) to the north-east; Canet de Mar, with its modernista houses, is a similar distance the other way. Inland, quiet lanes climb through pine woods into the hills of the Montnegre i el Corredor park.
Visiting Sant Pol de Mar
Sant Pol has its own station on the coastal line from Barcelona, about 30 miles (48 km) away, and the platform is a few steps from the sand. Reach the beach by the underpasses beneath the tracks, never across the line.
