The approximately 220 km long Costa Brava stretches south and south-west from the foothills of the Pyrenees on the French-Spanish border at Portbou to the Tordera estuary at Blanes.
To the south is the Costa del Maresme with the province of Barcelona; the city of Barcelona is about 60 kilometers away from the southern edge of the Costa Brava. T
he Costa Brava owes its name to the heavily jagged rock massifs that drop steeply down to the sea from the mountain ranges (Serras) running parallel to the coast.