Logbook · 4 places

What to see and do in Malgrat de Mar

What to see and do in Malgrat de Mar (Maresme, Barcelona): 4 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 1 Monuments · 2 Nature

Towns near Malgrat de Mar

What to see in Palafolls 2.7 km · 4 places
What to see in Santa Susanna 3.1 km · 2 places
What to see in Pineda de Mar 4.8 km · 1 place
What to see in Blanes 5.2 km · 9 places
What to see in Tordera 6.4 km · 2 places
What to see in Calella 7.3 km · 6 places
What to see in Lloret de Mar 9.7 km · 8 places
What to see in Sant Pol de Mar 11 km · 4 places

Spain › Catalonia › Barcelona › Maresme › Malgrat de Mar

What to see and do in Malgrat de Mar

Malgrat de Mar
Village
Malgrat de Mar is a coastal town located at the northern end of the Maresme, in the province of Barcelona, at the mouth of the river Tordera, which separates it from the comarca of La Selva. It has 19,714 inhabitants (INE 2025) and a beach of about 7 km with numerous hotels and campsites. It was born between the 13th and 14th centuries as Vilanova de Palafolls. Its historic centre is dominated by the church of Sant Nicolau, with a neoclassical façade and octagonal bell tower, known as the cathedral of the coast for its size, alongside modernist buildings such as Ca l'Arnau. Castle Hill offers panoramic views over the town, and the Can Campassol park occupies the former garden of the birth house of Zenobia Camprubí, wife of Nobel laureate Juan Ramón Jiménez.
The Castle Tower
Monument
The Torre del Castell is the most emblematic feature of Malgrat de Mar, in the Maresme (Barcelona), at the top of the Parc del Castell. It was built in the 14th century by order of the lord of Palafolls to defend the settlement of Vilanova de Palafolls, the origin of present-day Malgrat de Mar, and is already documented in 1382 as a defence against pirate attacks. In the 16th and 17th centuries it served as a coastal watchtower against Barbary piracy and as a battery; it suffered serious damage in a French bombardment in 1696, was attacked during the Carlist Wars of 1836, and between 1936 and 1939 machine-gun nests were installed on it. It is a cylindrical tower of which today only a third of its original height survives; a 2002 restoration removed the additions from the Civil War.
Mouth of the Tordera
Nature
The mouth of the river Tordera, between Malgrat de Mar and Blanes, is the final stretch of a 61.5-kilometre course whose delta covers about 8 km². It is protected within the Natura 2000 Network, under the code ES5110007 ("Riu i Estanys de Tordera"), and preserves small riverside woods of elms, poplars and ash trees, today threatened by American reed. Among the fauna found in the area are the grey heron, the black-crowned night heron, the common kingfisher and the little ringed plover, along with amphibians and reptiles such as the European tree frog, the Mediterranean pond turtle and the viperine water snake. The area suffers notable degradation from water pollution, nearby urbanisation and infrastructure, including a campsite that narrows the riverbed.
Viewpoints of the Mouth of the Tordera
Nature
The viewpoints at the mouth of the Tordera are bird-watching points at the estuary of the Tordera river, in Malgrat de Mar (Maresme), one of the most significant wetlands on the coast. The estuary is protected within the Natura 2000 network, with the code ES5110007, and is part of the PEIN. The river flows out forming a lagoon separated from the sea by a bar of sand and pebbles, with a delta of about 8 km² and riverside vegetation of elms, willows and ashes. The site serves as a resting and refuge place during migrations for species such as the grey heron, the common kingfisher, the common sandpiper, the little ringed plover or the squacco heron, although its ecological potential is limited by pollution, urbanisation and excessive human use.