Village
Begur, traditionally known as Bagur, is a municipality in the Baix Empordà, in the province of Girona, dominated by the ruins of its castle, a symbol of its feudal past. Its medieval old town preserves five defensive towers built between the 16th and 17th centuries against Moorish piracy, along with houses of colonial architecture built by natives of Begur who emigrated to make their fortune in the Americas, above all in Cuba. Besides its central settlement, it takes in Esclanyà, Aiguafreda, Sa Riera, Sa Tuna, Aiguablava and Fornells, and is the starting point for its eight coves; at Aiguablava the national parador has stood on the clifftop since 1966. It has 4,291 inhabitants (INE 2025), a figure that exceeds 40,000 in summer.
Village
Esclanyà is a small settlement in the municipality of Begur, in the southwestern part of its territory, in the Baix Empordà. Until the end of the Middle Ages it was held by the lords of Cruïlles, and during the Civil War, from April 1937 until the end of the conflict, it formed part of the municipality of Palafrugell. Its main landmark is Esclanyà castle, known as the tower of Esclanyà, dating from the 14th century, of which the large rectangular Romanesque-era tower survives, with battlements on its north side. The village is centred on the church of Sant Esteve d'Esclanyà, documented since 1280 but with Romanesque elements pointing to an earlier 10th-century church. It traditionally lived from vines and olives, and tile production was its main industrial activity.
Monument
Remains of a medieval castle (16th-17th centuries) at the top of the Begur hill, with panoramic views over the town and the coast.
Monument
A group of 16th- and 17th-century watchtowers spread across the old town of Begur (Can Marquès, Mas Pinc, Ca n'Armanac, Can Pella i Forgas and carrer Sant Ramon), built as protection against pirate attacks.
Nature
The Aiguablava beach is a semi-urban beach in the municipality of Begur, in the Baix Empordà, situated at the head of the cove of the same name; in the 1860 gazetteer it was listed as belonging to the municipality of Esclanyà. Facing north-east, it is 86.7 metres long with an average width of 27 metres, made up of medium and fine sand with a steep slope into the water, and bordered to the north and south by rocky outcrops and cliffs. It has showers, lifeguard supervision, access ramps for reduced mobility, parking, a beach bar and restaurants, with high occupancy in summer. The Agència Catalana de l'Aigua monitors the water quality weekly, with excellent results. At the foot of the beach are the Aiguablava fishermen's huts, protected as a Bien Cultural de Interés Local (a local-level heritage protection designation).
Nature
Sa Riera is the largest and most touristic sandy beach in the municipality of Begur, in the Baix Empordà, with a seafront promenade and the starting point of several routes of the Camí de Ronda that link it to the south with the ses Negres marine reserve and the cap de Sa Sal, and to the north with the Illa Roja cove. It takes its name from the stream that divides it in two, which rises in the Begur massif, close to the town. It is one of the few beaches on the Catalan coast that grows instead of losing sand, thanks to its northward orientation: over the last fifty years it has doubled its surface area, to 1.73 hectares. It flies a blue flag and, every summer, hosts a traditional habanera singing gathering.
Nature
A semi-urban beach situated in the centre of Sa Tuna, a seaside district of Begur, in the Baix Empordà, with old fishermen's houses. Set into the cove of Sa Tuna, in the midst of a rocky stretch of the mountains of Begur, it faces north-east and is 91 m long with an average width of 18 m, made up of coarse sand, gravel and pebbles, with a steep slope into the water. Boats can often be seen beached on the sand, and it is reached by a winding road; the coastal path also leads to the beach of s'Eixugador. The Agència Catalana de l'Aigua monitors the quality of its waters weekly, rated excellent.
Nature
Platja de Fornells, a calm-water cove that forms part of the centre of Fornells de Mar, on the coast of Begur, next to the Aiguablava development. The area brings together several small coarse-sand coves linked by a coastal path, such as cala n'Estàsia, cala Ses Orats or cala en Malaret, facing the Illa Blanca and north of the cove of Aiguablava. According to local tradition, it was at the nearby house El Paradís, belonging to Bonaventura Sabater, that in the early 20th century this coastline was given the name Costa Brava. The small marina of Aiguablava, with 61 moorings, is considered the smallest in Catalonia.
Nature
Aiguafreda is a small cove and harbour on the coast of Begur, in the Baix Empordà, elongated in shape and facing south-east, closed to the north by the cliffs of the cap de Sa Sal and to the south by the punta des Plom. The name comes from the stream of the same name that flows into it, although it could also derive from the nearby cap de Begur, called cap d'Aiguafreda in medieval times. Scarcely built up, it is above all a marina and one of the main scuba diving spots on the Costa Brava: its seabed is rocky, with a gentle slope, with a very small sandy beach next to the jetty and the rest of the coast made of rugged rock. It is connected to Begur and to the nearby coves of sa Tuna and sa Riera by road and by the coastal path, and has showers, Red Cross lifeguard supervision and diving and kayak equipment rental.
Nature
The easternmost point of the Begur massif, which together with the cap de Sant Sebastià and the coves that alternate between the two makes up the most characteristic stretch of the Costa Brava; in medieval documents it was known as cap d'Aiguafreda. Its cliff is part of the natural area of the muntanyes de Begur, an extension towards the coast of the Gavarres, whose low hills fall to the sea forming cliffs. It is a rocky headland south of Begur with a panoramic viewpoint over Aiguablava and Fornells, and the former site of an optical semaphore station.
Nature
The longest of the sea caves of Begur (some 150 metres), which can be visited by kayak or by diving, between the coves of Aiguaxelida and Aiguablava.
Activity
Weekly market of fresh produce in the plaça de l'Església in the historic centre of Begur.
Monument
Small Romanesque church in the municipal term of Begur, in the Baix Empordà, documented since the late 13th century, although built between the 11th and 12th centuries, with the portal added in the 18th. It has two naves with two semicircular absides, since it originally had only a single nave, now the one on the north side, covered with a slightly pointed vault; the south side nave, added later, is covered with a barrel vault. From the 14th century, the place and castle of Esclanyà belonged to the Cruïlles-Peratallada family, within the barony of Begur, and the church was a parish until 1721. Restored controversially in the 1970s, it is now annexed to the parish of Sant Pere de Begur.
Historical milestone
In the second half of the 19th century, fleeing the coral crisis and phylloxera, around a quarter of Begur's population, some five hundred young men, left for Cuba; the few who made their fortune returned as indianos and built the colonial-style houses of the village.