Platja Gran car park

The Platja Gran in Pals is an open beach of natural coarse sand, inside the Montgrí, les Medes and Baix Ter Natural Park. It is a few minutes by car from the old town, following the signs for Platja de Pals, and almost everyone arrives by car. This entry summarises what the town council and Visit Pals publish about where to leave it.

What is known about the parking

Visit Pals, the municipal tourism website, lists a parking area among the services of the Platja Gran, and specifies that it is unattended. It does not publish its name, the number of spaces or the rate. The Costa Brava tourism website, however, says that you pay at the nearest car park. The two sources do not entirely contradict each other: in summer the municipal blue zone applies and the rest of the year no regulation is announced.

According to the town council, the Pals blue zone operates from 1 June to 30 September, from 9:00 to 20:00, every day. You pay at the parking meters or with the elparking website and app, after prior registration, and visitors can buy weekly, fortnightly or monthly passes. The municipal page does not detail which streets or beach car parks are paid. If you are staying nearby, a pass may work out better than paying day by day; ask the Local Police (972 66 77 77) or the tourist office.

When it fills up

Visit Pals rates the summer occupancy of the Platja Gran as medium-high. In July and August the sensible thing is to arrive first thing or in the late afternoon. Platja del Grau, to the north, has its own access, and from Càmping Platja Brava you walk to it.

Beach facilities

Visit Pals lists these services on the Platja Gran: lifeguards from 15 June to 30 September, a buoyed swimming area with a channel for boats, daily sand cleaning from 1 June to 30 September, public toilets with one adapted, showers, bins, beach bars and a tourist information point. There are walkways and adapted access, and an amphibious chair for bathing.

The town council reminds visitors that dogs may not be on the beach from 15 March to 15 October, under municipal bylaws, and that recreational fishing is banned on Platja de Pals from 8:00 to 20:00 from 15 May to 15 September.

Before or after the beach

The dunes in the natural part are protected and roped off: do not cross them outside the paths. If you want to combine sea and village, go up afterwards to the Gothic old town, leaving the car in the car parks at the foot of the old town. Next to the beach is Golf de Pals, with taster lessons for beginners, and 450 metres from the sand, Interpals Eco Resort.