El Port de la Selva from Cadaqués: the fishing village on the other side of the cape

In El Port de la Selva, 13 km from Cadaqués on the GI-613, the places worth seeing are the harbour and its fish market, the church of Santa Maria de les Neus, the Pont Vell, the s'Arenella lighthouse and, about 5 km on foot along the GR11, Sant Baldiri de Taballera, with its tower from 1558.

Cadaqués faces east; El Port de la Selva faces the northern side of Cap de Creus. Between them runs a short, winding road, and at the end of it is a village that grew out of the huts where the fishermen of la Selva de Mar kept their catch. This guide covers what to see there in a morning or an afternoon, how to get there and how long it takes.

Where to stay here: Rincón tranquilo junto al Mediterráneo en Cadaqués · From 81 € per night →

Getting there from Cadaqués

According to the Cadaqués tourist office, the GI-613 road links the two villages: about 13 km and roughly 20 minutes. The road from Cadaqués reaches the south of the village at a roundabout at the end of the avenue Doctor Moisès Broggi; leaving the village towards Cadaqués, to the right of that roundabout, says the town council, is the Pont Vell.

There is also a footpath between the two villages, which deserves a guide of its own. And if you come by boat, the harbour belongs to Ports de la Generalitat, which manages the public berths.

A village born from fishing huts

The Catalan Wikipedia sums up its history. In 974 a donation to the monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes already mentions a harbour here, but there is no record of houses until the early 18th century. They belonged to fishermen who lived in la Selva de Mar and nearby villages, and they used them to store fish and tackle. The first church was begun in 1725, and in 1787 Charles III made it a royal town, separate from la Selva de Mar.

In the mid-19th century fishing went hand in hand with trade in oil and wine, until phylloxera reached the Empordà in 1879, wiped out the vineyards and forced many families to emigrate. In the 1920s it was discovered by writers such as J. V. Foix and Josep Maria de Sagarra, who set Cançons de rem i de vela and El Cafè de la Marina here. And a curious detail: Joaquim Ventalló, who translated Tintin into Catalan, drew on the speech of the village's sailors for Captain Haddock's curses.

The harbour and the fish market

The harbour is still the heart of the village. Ports de la Generalitat lists 14 quays and 870 berths, a 214 m² fish market and 630 m² of fishermen's huts, next to the fishermen's guild. The fishing volume in 2023 was 11,043 kg.

According to Wikipedia, in 2019 the guild had a fleet of ten boats and it specialises in the Cap de Creus prawn. It is a harbour with few boats and a lot of craft, and its quays make a good walk.

The church and the old bridge

The church of Santa Maria de les Neus stands in the old centre; you walk up carrer Sant Baldiri from carrer Illa, the street along the shore. The town council explains that the present building dates from the first half of the 20th century and was extended and modernised in 1962. Inside there is a Gothic Saint Peter in painted stone from the 15th century, saved when the monastery was looted, and a chapel of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, patron saint of fishermen. The iron Christ on the high altar is by Demetri Kontos, a sculptor from Cadaqués.

The name comes with a legend: soon after the village was settled, on 5 August, a hailstorm turned everything white without harming the fields, and the harvest was plentiful. Until the early 20th century a snowfall was re-enacted inside the church in its memory.

The Pont Vell, by the roundabout at the entrance, is a stone arch bridge of unknown origin, considered medieval because of its architecture. It stood on the old road from la Selva de Mar towards Cadaqués.

Sant Baldiri de Taballera

About 5 km from the centre, already in the Cap de Creus massif, are the ruins of Sant Baldiri de Taballera. You reach them on foot along the camí dels masos, now part of the GR11: from the start of the path, about 5 km and around 50 minutes, according to the town council, which asks walkers to carry water because there are no fountains in the park.

Excavations show the site was lived in from the 6th century to the end of the 19th. There are remains of a pre-Romanesque church, a church blessed in 1733 and a round tower built in 1558 by the master builder Bartomeu del Mar against pirates, listed as a cultural asset of national interest. Its southern part collapsed around 1963. The chapel at Portlligat inherited this devotion (we tell that story here).

Beaches, coves and the lighthouse

The town council lists 31 beaches and coves in the municipality. The coves path follows the coast as far as la Tamariua. Further on lies Taballera cove: according to the Patronat de Turisme Costa Brava Girona, it is 135 m long, coarse sand and shingle, at the end of a long inlet, and cannot be reached by car, only by boat or after a few hours on foot along the GR-11. The Taballera shelter is closed and camping is banned throughout the park.

Towards Llançà, above the coastal path, is the s'Arenella lighthouse, opened in 1913 with a one-second white flash every five seconds. J. V. Foix wrote poetic prose about it.

Higher up, in the hills, is the monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes, which deserves a morning of its own. And in spring: the Fira de l'Espàrrec, the only fair in Catalonia devoted to wild asparagus, held its 15th edition on 12 April 2026.

Checked

Facts checked in October 2026 with: Cadaqués tourist office (visitcadaques.org, how to get there), El Port de la Selva town council (pages on the church of Santa Maria de les Neus, the Pont Vell, Sant Baldiri and its path, the s'Arenella lighthouse, beaches, shelters and the Fira de l'Espàrrec), Ports de la Generalitat (harbour page, updated 20 November 2024), Patronat de Turisme Costa Brava Girona (Taballera cove) and Catalan Wikipedia (El Port de la Selva).