"Salou" Salou by nighthawk

Salou Travel Guide: 165 reviews and 294 photos

Wow do I feel lucky! My dad took me to Spain! Haha, he won this trip during the festivities that took place in his little village by bying just the one ticket for some lottery ... and was not even present when they drew his lotery ticket!
I would have loved seeing his face when he first heard!

Statue Jaime I, boulevard Salou

In Roman time Salou was named Salauris. It has a rich history.

After the Romans and the Saracens, Salou became part of the Tarragona religious heritage.
King James I acknowledged Salou's excellent harbour and decided to bring his entire fleet here. He disembarked from the Port of Salou to conquer Majorca on September 6th in the year 1229.
The inhabitants of Salou have always commemorated this event and that's why the main promenade is named after King James (Jaune). Pirates and privateers took over Salou harbour and they turned it into one of the principal sites of their looting. As a result, the area became less and less inhabited and in 1530 the Archbishop of Tarragona, Pere Cardona ordered the building of a defense tower (Torre Vella or Old tower).
In 1766 the Santa Maria del Mar Church was consecrated and shortly thereafter the road from Reus to Salou.
In 1858 the lighthouse on Cape Salou was inagurated. Beach huts were authorized in 1863 and in 1865 was the opening of the train station. The well known Reus-Salou Carrilet local train was inagurated in 1887 and brought the first summer tourists to town.

From the early 20th century up to the sixties Salou grew quickly as a result of turism, making Salou what it is today: a beautiful and cosmopolitan summer town.

Salou Boulevard Jaime

Salou is great as start point if you want to discover this part of Catalunya. Try to stay away from the tourist areas, they are all the same.
Since my father is an elderly citizen, we did his thing most of the time .. haha I did not dare to come home with my father all tired!!

Pros and Cons

In a nutshell:far too little spain ...too touristy to my liking

Intro Updated Feb 27, 2004
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Fountain fun Things to Do (1)

A nice thing to do on an evening is walk to the fountains at the boulevard for on certain evenings they have a lightshow... more travel advice

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iwys May 12, 2005 at 1:22 AM

Thanks for the info. I used to live in Reus and hang out on the beach at Salou. I never knew it had so much history.
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quartinb Jan 3, 2004 at 9:37 AM

no tips ?????oh....!