To discover the real Costa Brava, you’ll need to get your boots on and follow in the footsteps of pirates and smugglers.

AS THE path rounds the corner, a cluster of white fishing houses nestled in a rocky cove comes into view. The idyllic scene, complete with umbrella pine trees, fluffy clouds scudding across the blue sky and upturned fishing boats, is being immortalised on canvas by a local artist. Stopping to watch him work offers the perfect excuse for a rest while enjoying the warmth of the late summer sun.

 
The cove - Cala S’Alguer – is between Palamós and Calella de Palafrugell in Catalunya, and I am two thirds of the way through a walk that will take me the length of the Costa Brava. I am following the GR92 (Gran Recorregut or Great Route) coastal trail and the Camins de Ronda – a series of paths that hug the coastline.

With the peaceful sound of waves lapping the shoreline, it is hard to imagine that for centuries this stretch of the Costa Brava was a place of terror as it came under siege from pirates. Between the 9th Century and the end of the Golden Age of piracy in the 18th Century, local legends tell of pirates plundering the villages, robbing valuables from churches, raping and kidnapping women and murdering men.

The Camins de Ronda, which now offer an introduction to the many faces of the Costa Brava, were in fact first built to connect a series of watchtowers constructed along the coastline to warn of imminent attacks. Later these same paths would be used by smugglers unloading contraband goods under the cover of darkness and for transporting black market goods after World War I and the Spanish Civil War.

Having fallen into disuse over the intervening years, they are now being recovered to create a seamless walk from Portbou, on the French border, to Blanes in the south of the Costa Brava. It’s a route that takes you from the wild windswept beauty of the Cap de Creus natural park to the wide sandy beaches of the Gulf of Roses and the hidden tranquil coves around Cap de Begur, before arriving in the resort towns of Platja d’Aro and Lloret de Mar. The paths range from single-file dirt tracks to wide paved sections on the edges of towns. In some places, they cut across beaches and in others they follow the road.