Tarragona harbor as seen from the Balcón del Mediterráneo

Beaches from the Balcón del Mediterráneo

The Rambla in Tarragona

The old city of Tarragona is located from roman times on a hill overlooking the Mediterranean sea. When at the end of the XIXth century industry came and with it the idea of the “Ensanche” already tested in Barcelona, growth is oriented towards the harbor- looking slopes. So, Tarragona’s rambla is not an old creek as in many areas in the mediterranean coast, but a straight urban street, that rises towards the Balcony of the Mediterranean.

The metropolitan duality between Tarragona and Reus has not achieved an urban continuity, and the coastal plain between both cities is today a somewhat haphazard mix of industrial areas and old agricultural settlements.

Tarragona. Bofarull 1890