CAP DE CREUS COSTA BRAVA

This jagged peninsula, where the Pyrenees jut into the sea, is a place of savage beauty and vicious winds. Salvador Dali lived just down the road at Port Lligat, and as you stand on the headland gazing down into secluded creeks it is impossible not to see Dali-esque images in the rocks, carved by nature into ever more surreal shapes. This is where the tramuntana, the legendary north wind that strikes fear into sailors and fishermen, is at its most violent. If you come when the wind is blowing you will struggle to stay on your feet.

The easiest way to reach the cape is from Cadaques on a narrow road which snakes across the headland. There is also a coastal footpath from Port Lligat, difficult to follow but with the reward of seeing this craggy landscape at its isolated best and dipping into hidden coves along the way. The road ends at a lighthouse, where you can walk on to the slate cliffs and look down over the seascape of deep turquoise water, small islands and rocky coves. This is the easternmost point in mainland Spain and if you come here at dawn you can watch the sun rise over the Iberian peninsula. Sea birds migrate here in winter and wheat ears and rock thrushes build their nests in spring, when the cliffs are carpeted with wild flowers and the headland is scented with rosemary and lavender. Swifts and pipits arrive in summer. In 1998 the entire headland was designated a protected nature reserve.