In August Cadaqués is at its hottest and busiest: at Roses, the nearest Meteocat station, the average high from 2016 to 2025 was 31.5 °C, and between July and September the village almost triples its population. The road to the Cap de Creus lighthouse is closed to cars from 9:30 to 21:30 and you go up by shuttle bus.
August is when Cadaqués is at its fullest, hottest and liveliest. If your dates are already fixed, here is what the official figures say about the heat and the sea, how many people there are, what happens with the car and with Cap de Creus when the wildfire risk is high, and what the village celebrates.
The heat: what the Meteocat figures say
The Catalan Meteorological Service (Meteocat) has no station in Cadaqués; the nearest in its automatic network is at Roses. Taking its daily data for every August from 2016 to 2025, the average high comes out at 31.5 °C and the average low at 20.5 °C. On average there were about 22 days reaching 30 °C or more, and about 19 nights when the thermometer stayed at 20 °C or above. The hottest reading in those ten Augusts was 39.4 °C, in 2023.
August 2026 was hotter than that average: an average high of 33.4 °C, 26 days of 30 °C or more and as many nights above 20 °C. The village's tourism website points out that the Pení mountain cuts Cadaqués off from the rest of the Alt Empordà and gives it a climate of its own, so treat these figures as a guide.
It hardly rains: 22 mm on average and two or three rainy days in the month, although 70.7 mm fell in 2018. And the tramontana doesn't vanish: counting days with northerly gusts of 50 km/h or more at Roses, August averages between five and six. What to do on those days is in the tramontana guide.
The sea, at its warmest
The official sea-temperature reference on this coast is the L'Estartit series, near the Medes Islands, measured since 1974 by the observer Josep Pascual with the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC) and published by Meteocat. According to his charts, the average August surface temperature was 23.6 °C in 2025 and 26.5 °C in 2026, the highest in the whole series. Between 2016 and 2025, Augusts ranged from about 22.5 to about 25 °C.
The village beaches are in this guide, and the coves on the cape in this one.
How busy it gets
Far busier than the rest of the year. According to Idescat's seasonal population estimate for 2024, the 2,894 residents of Cadaqués are joined on average by another 5,758 people between July and September: about 8,650 in all, almost three times as many. The quarter-by-quarter detail is in how many people live in Cadaqués.
You notice it everywhere, including at the Salvador Dalí House in Portlligat, which opens every day from 9:30 to 20:00 between 15 June and 13 September, always with advance booking; in July and August a standard ticket costs €18.50 (checked in October 2026). In August it is worth booking well ahead.
The car and the lighthouse road
For parking in the village and getting around without a car there are two guides: where to park in Cadaqués and how to get there without a fight. What changes in August is the cape: in 2026 the road from Cadaqués to the Cap de Creus lighthouse was closed to cars and motorbikes every day in August, from 9:30 to 21:30, with camera enforcement, according to the Natural Park.
On those days you go up by shuttle bus from the free Corral d'en Morell car park, in the village itself. Between 6 June and 31 August 2026 it ran from 8:00 to 23:00, and tickets can be bought online on the Moventis website. On foot and by bike the road is always open. Stops and details are in getting to the lighthouse with the road closed.
Wildfire risk: the Pla Alfa
The Agents Rurals, Catalonia's rural rangers, assess the wildfire danger in every municipality each day under the Pla Alfa, on a five-level scale from 0 (low) to 4 (extreme). The map is updated at 0:00 and at 9:30 on the Department of the Interior's website.
At level 3 it is forbidden to light a fire in any open space, including designated picnic areas, or to use fireworks. At level 4 access to protected natural areas can be restricted, except for residents and essential services, and the Natural Park warns that at that level its access points are closed.
What's on in the village in August
The tourism office's August 2026 programme gives a sense of the month. On Saturdays there was an artists' and craftspeople's fair in Portdoguer, all day. On Wednesdays, at 21:00, guitar concerts in the church of Santa Maria. The Cadaqués Music Festival, held every summer since 1970, had a concert in the church on 16 August, and the office ran walking tours on the village's history and on Dalí's places, at €5 and free up to the age of 12.
Saturday 22 August 2026 was the 39th Trobada de Vela Llatina, the lateen-sail gathering: the boats assemble on the beach in the morning, there is a sardine lunch, sails go up at midday and they head out across the bay; that night there was a summer dance on the Passeig. The next day, the Santa Rosa children's sardana contest. The story of the gathering is in this guide.
15 August was a public holiday in Catalonia in 2026, although it fell on a Saturday. In 2027 it falls on a Sunday and is not among the holidays in the official Catalan calendar. The village's main summer festival is in September and is covered in this guide. For each year's programme, see the tourism website's events page.
Checked
Checked in October 2026 with: Meteocat (daily data from the Roses station, and sea temperature), Josep Pascual's L'Estartit sea temperature charts (meteolestartit.cat), Idescat (seasonal population by quarter), the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation, Cap de Creus Natural Park (2026 access rules and FAQs), the Department of the Interior (Pla Alfa), visitcadaques.org (climate and the August 2026 programme) and the DOGC (2026 and 2027 holiday calendars). The averages are our own calculation from the official daily data for 2016 to 2025.
Quick questions
How hot is Cadaqués in August?
At Roses, the nearest Meteocat station, the average August high from 2016 to 2025 was 31.5 °C and the average low 20.5 °C. In 2026 the average high rose to 33.4 °C.
How warm is the sea in August?
At L'Estartit, the official reference, the average August surface temperature was 23.6 °C in 2025 and 26.5 °C in 2026, the highest in the series.
Can you drive to the Cap de Creus lighthouse in August?
Not during the day: in 2026 the road was closed to cars and motorbikes every day in August from 9:30 to 21:30. You go up by shuttle bus from the Corral d'en Morell, on foot or by bike.
What happens when the wildfire risk is high?
At level 4 of the Pla Alfa the Natural Park closes its access points. The Agents Rurals map is updated at 0:00 and at 9:30.