Lloret de Mar

Lloret de Mar is a coastal town in Catalonia on the Mediterranean primarily known as a tourist resort. It is adjacent to Blanes and Tossa de Mar and is 75 kilometers from Barcelona. With a population of 29.445 (as of 2005) it is the second largest town in the Selva comarca (county) of Catalonia. It has a population density of approximately 130 inhabitants per kilometer squared. During the tourist season, the number of people in Lloret (both inhabitants and tourists) often reaches 200,000. For decades it has attracted summer visitors on package tours, mainly from northern Europe, and it is now the most important resort in the Costa Brava. It has fine sandy beaches but is otherwise undistinguished as a result of the rapid and largely uncontrolled development of hotels, apartment blocks, discos, casinos etc.

There is a medieval fort on the outskirts of the town called "castell de sant Joan", Saint Joan's castle (Lloret was founded in 1001 AD). Many consider a bronze statue overlooking the town to be Lloret's symbol. The sculpture shows a fisherman's wife (Dona Marinera) and it was made in 1966 by Ernest Maragall. The history of Lloret goes back to the third century BC throughout that long history, though being a dynamic and modern tourist town, Lloret has managed to sustain its personality and preserve those distinguishing traits and traditions that only the passage of time can instil.

In addition to the broad range of services, there are also cultural, architectural and natural attractions, and all these, along with the two historic villages dating back to the Iberian period, make up an overall package of meeting diverse and demanding requirements.

Lloret is regarded as one of the best-endowed tourist centres in terms of sports facilities, and its many options in shopping, leisure and cuisine, along with its hotel, camping and apartment provision, bring it to the forefront of the country's tourist areas in terms of quantity, variety and quality.

Within a radius of less than 100 Km, Tossa de Mar, Barcelona, Girona, Figueres (with its Dalí museum) and Montserrat can all be visited.

There is a scheduled, daily bus service to Barcelona, Girona and various destinations inland, with links to the main cities of Spain and Europe. Barcelona City and its airport El Prat can also be reached in combination with the train service (6 Km away), with connections with most of the European cities as well. Traditional town festivities and folklore run all year round in the scheduled events and novelties.

The options for conferences, with a range of incentives, is another service on offer, which enables working sessions and leisure to be blended together.