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. The 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.