Costa Brava filming locations

Posted on 4 February 2021 by Richard Calvin

A brief history of the Costa Brava filming locations

The Costa Brava has long been a popular location for Movie and TV Shoots. The first recorded production was entitled “Amor de Pescadora” by Eduard Marquina and was shot in Tossa de Mar in 1914. It is easy to find Costa Brava filming locations all along this stretch of coastline and below i outline some of the major movies to be shot here.

Movies shot on the Costa Brava during the 1950’s

Perhaps the Golden age of Movies shot on the Costa Brava with some of the biggest names in Hollywood filming here.

1951 Pandora and the Flying Dutchman staring Ava Gardner and James Mason. This was the first big North American movie to be filmed on the Costa Brava. Filmed entirely on location including the coastal towns of Tossa de Mar, Palamos, S’Agaro and Platja d’Aro. 1951 was the year that Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra married.

1952 Decameron Nights shot in Cala Francesc, Blanes starred Joan Fontaine and a young Joan Collins.

1956 The Spanish Gardener filmed in various locations along the Costa Brava including Palamos, Sant Feliu de Guxols, S’Agaro and Tossa de Mar. Dirk Bogarde was supported in the main role by Jon Whiteley and Cyril Cusack among others.

1958 Sea Fury filmed in Begur and staring Stanley Baker.

1959 Suddenly Last Summer was a blockbuster movie staring big name stars such as Elizabeth Taylor and Katharine Hepburn. Filmed in various locations including Pals, Begur and Sant Feliu de Guixols.

Costa Brava filming locations from the 1960’s onwards

Notable movies shot on the Costa Brava from the 1960’s onwards include:

1960 The three worlds of Gulliver Staring Kerwin Mathews.

1961 Mysterious Island staring Michael Craig and Herbert Lom

1968 Some Girls Do staring Richard Johnson

1970 The light at the edge of the World staring Yul Brynner and Kirk Douglas

1971 Nicholas and Alexandra staring a long list of stars including Tom Baker, Laurence Olivier, Fiona Fullerton and Michael Redgrave.

1977 Valentino staring Rudolf Nureyev, Felicity Kendal

1992 1492: Conquest of Paradise Directed by Ridley Scott and staring Sigourney Weaver and Gerard Depardieu

Game of Thrones and Westworld filming location

More recently Girona was selected as a filming location for the celebrated series Game of Thrones. Visiting Girona to see the GoT filming locations is a popular day trip from the Costa Brava.

Part of the Westworld Series 2 was filmed in the medieval village of Besalu which was turned into a WW11 movie set for a couple of weeks.

Commercial shooting locations Spain

Over the years Charming Villas Catalonia has provided locations for numerous TV commercial and product catalog shoots. We have also worked with production companies from all over the world and provided Catalonia location shooting for the following shows:

Linnan tähdet from Finland, Playing it Straight from the UK, Ocho apellidos Catalanes from Spain and Red Light from the Netherlands.

Luxury villas on the Costa Brava

At Charming Villas Catalonia we have an extensive portfolio of high standard vacation homes in and around Tamariu. Please browse our selection of luxury Costa Brava villas and farmhouses. We have visited all of the properties on our website on multiple occasions. Our aim is to offer un-biased opinions on each property and help our clients choose the best property for their needs.

Locally based we offer a free Costa Brava concierge service to all our clients and can help arrange extra services and activities. We can give suggestions of day-trips and put together bespoke days out including some of our off the beaten track favorites.

Where is Tamariu?

Posted on 24 January 2021 by Richard Calvin

Tamariu Costa Brava

Tamariu is a small coastal town on the Costa Brava. One of three coastal towns within the municipality of the larger town Palafrugell which is located a few kilometres inland. The other two towns are Llafranc and Calella de Palafrugell.

Where is Tamariu? — Tamariu on the Costa Brava

Things to do in Tamariu

Tamariu is pretty small and in 20 minutes you will have walked all the streets and seen everything in the town. However this does not mean that it is boring, not by any stretch of the imagination. Of course the main feature is the beach itself. Along this stretch of the Costa Brava beaches are mainly small coves and bays. At around 200m in length it is one of the biggest sandy beaches in this region.

The promenade of Tamariu has a good selection of restaurants, great for family meals on balmy summer evenings. There’s also a small supermarket, good for picking up essentials however we recommend our clients to do their main grocery shopping in Palafrugell.

The Cami de Ronda

The Cami de Ronda is the name for the coastal path which runs the whole length of the Costa Brava. The Tamariu section of the coastal path is a little hilly so probably not ideal for little children. To the north the beach of Aiguablava is a 45 minute walk and to the south the little hidden bay of Cala Pedrosa is again around 45 minutes. The small bay of Aigua Gelida (sometimes spelt Aiga Xelida) close to Tamariu is another beautiful beach worth a visit. Read about the Costa Brava coastal path in more detail on our blog.

Aigua Gelida beach — The cove of Aigua Gelida

The area around Tamariu

With the exception of the bays and coves, the general geography of the area is rugged pine covered cliffs. The contrast between the deep blues of the ocean and the verdant greens of the pines is breathtaking. However this also means that a lot of the Tamariu holiday villas and vacation rentals in the area are built into the coastal cliffs. For families with young children some of the villas in the area may not be ideal due to the nature of the terrain.

Costa Brava holiday villas

For more information about Tamariu and the surrounding area please visit the Visit Palafrugell website.

Costa Brava Concierge Services

Posted on 21 April 2020 by Richard Calvin

Looking for concierge services on the Costa Brava? Then look no further than Sara and Richard from Charming Villas Catalonia. Locally based we are here to help our clients with every aspect of your vacation, all at no extra cost.

First things first – Choosing the right property

This all starts during your luxury Costa Brava villa selection process where we offer comprehensive and un-biased advice on all of our properties and locations. We listen to your important criteria and suggest suitable properties based on what we think would be a good fit. We have a varied selection of vacation rentals for all tastes and needs.

Planning your activities in Catalonia

Once we have nailed down your chosen vacation rental the next stage is to start planning excursions and activities. Whether that be a day trip to Barcelona or Cadaques or a table at the number one restaurant in Spain, El Celler de Can Roca. Things that normally need to be booked way in advance include tables at Can Roca, private chefs and boat hire. Further fine tuning can be planned closer to arrival but it is wise to get these important reservations out of the way early on. Other things we can help with include hire cars delivered to your villa, airport transfers, guides and sommeliers. These are just some of the Costa Brava concierge services we offer our clients.

Charming Villas Catalonia is a family business ran by Sara and Richard

We love making sure that our clients make the most out of their time while in Catalonia so take great pleasure in arranging bespoke itineraries. Some of our favorite authentic and off the beaten track restaurants often make it in to our clients plans! Or how about a picnic at one of our favorite secluded coves on the Costa Brava? We also keep an eye on local festivities and festivals (cultural and culinary) and give our clients a list of things that are going on locally. Two examples; watching some Castellers human towers or visiting a cheese and olive oil farmers market in a medieval village.

Catalonia specialists

All of our properties which we list on our website are located in Catalonia, predominantly on the Costa Brava, Girona and Barcelona. This means we focus all of our energies on this one concentrated corner of Spain. We have a huge database of local knowledge to share with our guests and believe we have more to offer than other agencies who spread their portfolios (and depth of local knowledge) over various regions within Spain or even multiple countries.

Whatever your needs or special requests we are here for you and nothing gives us greater pleasure than a satisfied group of clients.

Please contact us at catalonia@charmingvillas.net if you have any questions?