Cap de Creus Natural Park

Cap de Creus is the rocky headland that forms the end of the Pyrenees where they plunge into the Mediterranean, a landscape of eroded granite and schist worn into surreal shapes by centuries of tramontana wind. The natural park covers the entire peninsula, protecting some of the most unspoiled coastline on the Costa Brava.

Walking here is excellent: well-marked paths lead from Cadaqués to the lighthouse at the cape (about 3 hours each way), past coves of clear turquoise water, through scrubby maquis of rosemary and cistus, and along cliff edges with views of the Pyrenees receding into France to the north. The area is a marine reserve as well as a land park, and the diving and snorkelling in the coves is among the best on the Catalan coast. In summer, the parking at the cape fills early; walking from Cadaqués avoids both the crowds and the driving on narrow roads.

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A story
Cap de Creus is the easternmost point of the Iberian Peninsula — the first place on the peninsula to see each day's sunrise. The Greek and Phoenician traders who called here named it Aphrodisias after the goddess of beauty, which tells you something about the light. The lighthouse at the tip was staffed by a keeper until 2012, when it was automated. The restaurant attached to the lighthouse building is one of the more dramatically situated lunch spots on the Spanish coast.

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