June

By the beginning of June – if there was any doubt before – spring is definitely here. With a sprinkling of rain every now and then – often a torrent – things grow fast. In fact,  the lawn seems to add another inch each time I look at it during this time of year.

Want to know what the weather will do on the Costa Brava? Here’s the 25 day forecast.

If you’ve got a cherry tree the fruit will probably have ripened already while tomatoes, spuds and various other home grown fruit and veg should be growing like crazy even if not actually producing anything quite yet.

And while swimming at the start of the month is only for the brave, after three weeks the water temperature is much warmer while the height of the summer is still to come. These days can be lovely to spend on the beach, warm but not too hot, warm enough to swim and without the crowds of late July and August.

What’s on in June

In the lead up to the full season you’ll find a number of gastronomic events in a number of towns, but the big celebration is held on the evening of 23rd June. It’s St John’s Eve – La Revetlla de Sant Joan – and widely celebrated across Catalonia.

Sant Feliu de Guíxols: Ganxó Oily Fish Gastronomy

Sant Feliu de Guíxols’ annual oily fish gastronomic campaign centred on the town’s traditional catch takes place for the month ending mid-June. Participating restaurants offer tapas made with locally caught oily fish for just €1.

Palamós: Menú de Gamba

Starting in May  and running all the way through to mid-July is the annual menú de gamba – Prawn Menu – in Palamós. A number of restaurants in Palamós as well as Calonge, Sant Antoni and Vall-Llobrega offer a menu based around the prawns for which Palamós is famous.

Tossa de Mar: Els Fideus a la Cassola

Throughout June Tossa de Mar celebrates this traditional noodle dish made with seafood. The short noodles (fideus) absorb a thick seafood stock giving the dish a delicious flavour.

Estartit: La Clova – Tastets de Mar

Estartit has a celebration of cuttleshish and shellfish. Participating restaurants offer menus incorporating mussels, razor clams, winkles and other bivalves . There is also a mussel tasting in Plaça de l’Església. There you can sample mussels cooked in a variety of different ways.

La Revetlla de Sant Joan

St John’s Eve is celebrated across Catalonia on 23rd June with fireworks when it is traditional to eat Coca de Sant Joan, a cake made with candied fruit and pine nuts. It can get pretty noisy, so if you have pets you’re better off keeping them inside.

In Barcelona the noise and litter from the fireworks were unbearable. Things are better out of the big city, but if you’re thinking of throwing a party for St John you should be aware that fireworks are prohibited within 500 metres of forest or agricultural land.

Barcelona: Primavera Sound

If music us your thing you might want to head down to Barcelona for the annual Primavera Sound Festival in early June. There you can go and watch a variety of bands both well known and not. In the past headliners have included indie faves Arctic Monkeys.