Village
Calafell is a coastal town in the Baix Penedès, with 32,624 inhabitants (INE 2025), made up of the settlements of Calafell, Segur de Calafell and la Platja de Calafell. At the top of the old town stand the castle and the church of la Santa Creu, next to the Talaia watchtower. Its name means 'small castle'; it appears documented in 999 as l'Espluga de Calafell, part of the district of Castellet, whose castle passed in 1076 to Ramon Berenguer I for 800 gold marks. Plague epidemics decimated the population, which fell from 44 hearths in 1388 to only 21 in 1553, and did not recover until the 18th century, with 493 inhabitants in 1787. At the site of the Ciutadella Ibérica the remains of an Iberian settlement from the 6th century BC are preserved, and, above it, a later Roman domus.
Monument
The church of the Santa Creu de Calafell, located opposite the town hall, crowns the old town of the locality together with the remains of the castle, and is protected as a bien cultural de interés local (local-level heritage protection). Its large façade shows the temple's three naves and preserves an image of Saint Helena, the work of the local artist Isidre Romeu. The interior is covered with a barrel vault with transverse arches; a modern stained-glass window opens in the apse, and next to it stand the Blessed Sacrament chapel and the sacristy. It was built from new at the end of the 18th century, without demolishing the old Romanesque church of the castle, and was inaugurated on 15 July 1806; the square-plan bell tower dates from 1857, and in 1878 the temple was restored after threatening to collapse.
Monument
Tower situated at the top of a hill in the municipality of Calafell, in the Baix Penedès, declared a bien cultural de interés nacional (Catalonia's highest level of heritage protection). It has a rectangular plan, built in rammed earth, with remains of protective walls; the eastern part of the building is preserved, while the north-western corner has disappeared, and it is surrounded by a large rectangular enclosure. It was first classified as a Roman columbarium and later as a medieval construction, but excavations in 1998 revealed that it was actually built in the 17th century, probably during the Reapers' War (Guerra dels Segadors), which affected the village between 1640 and 1652, when it had about a hundred inhabitants in eighteen houses and some scattered farmsteads. Its name comes from a former owner, murdered during the Third Carlist War.
Monument
La Talaia de Calafell, in the Baix Penedès (Tarragona), is a 15th-century watchtower probably used until the 18th. Of elliptical plan, about 5 by 6.90 metres, it stands atop the hill of the same name, with walls of stone bonded with lime and sand mortar; the foundation walls and the flooring of the interior are preserved. Its origin is linked to an order of Queen Violant de Bar, wife of John I, to fortify the coast against attacks by Moorish ships, at a time when pirates from North Africa were ravaging the Catalan coast in the 16th and 17th centuries in search of plunder or captives to be ransomed or sold as slaves. The watchman had to warn the village so that the bells would ring and the residents could take refuge in the castle.
Nature
The stretch of beaches of the Baix Penedès, which links El Vendrell, Calafell and Cunit on the Costa Daurada, is characterised by fine sand and a gentle slope into the water. In Cunit, the beach stretch totals around 2.5 kilometres, divided since 2016 into two sectors, Ponent and Llevant, of 1,500 and 1,200 metres respectively and an average width of 50 metres, protected by seven detached breakwaters built between 1977 and 1983; they have lifeguard service, showers and a blue flag for water quality, and receive the waters of the torrent de la Creueta and the riera de Cunit. Tourism, with a season running from Easter to early October, is the main economic driver of these coastal municipalities.
Activity
Festa Major of Calafell, with events in the plaça Pau Casals.
Historical milestone
The count of Barcelona acquired in 1076 this frontier castle, whose name means small castle. The fortification watched over the coast and organised the repopulation of a district that an Iberian settlement beside the sea had occupied earlier.
Historical milestone
The urban development project begun in 1947 on the pine woods beside the beach gave rise to Segur, which came to be one of the largest housing developments in Europe. It marked the passage from an agricultural and fishing economy to another based on second homes.
Historical milestone
During the 1960s and 1970s the Barcelona publisher Carlos Barral turned his house by the beach at Calafell into a meeting point for writers. Latin American and European authors passed through, among them Gabriel García Márquez and Octavio Paz.
Food and drink
Dish of the village's fishermen: rice or noodles toasted in the pan and cooked with rock fish stock, served with aioli and accompanied by the fish from the stock. It has gastronomic events of its own in the restaurants of the promenade.