Hotels in L'Escala

L'Escala

L'Escala is a fishing port and resort town in the Alt Empordà, on the Costa Brava between the southern end of the Gulf of Roses and the cove of Montgó. Its harbour is famous for anchovies, celebrated every year with a festival, and the 17th-century salt warehouse, the Alfolí de la Sal, where salt for preserving the catch was stored, is a protected monument. Within the municipality lie the ruins of Empúries, the Greek and later Roman city founded in the 6th century BC, one of the most important archaeological sites in Spain. Beside them stands Sant Martí d'Empúries, a small walled village on the sea with a church and a shaded square. The town's seafront promenade links small sandy beaches and rocky coves, with Montgó Bay and the wild coast of the Montgrí Massif to the south. The GR 92 coastal path passes through L'Escala between Sant Martí d'Empúries and Torroella de Montgrí. The novelist Caterina Albert, who wrote as Víctor Català, was born here. Restaurants around the old port serve fish and the local anchovies, and the town stays lively without the high-rise feel of larger resorts. It suits families, divers and walkers, and anyone who wants history and beaches in one place. Girona-Costa Brava Airport is under an hour away by road and Figueres about half an hour.