Festa Major d'Estiu (Summer Town Festival)

For a few days each August, this little Costa Brava town hands itself over to its summer festa. The Plaça Major becomes the heart of it: rings of dancers linking hands for the slow, careful steps of the sardana, towering giants lurching through the streets behind a line of drummers, and stalls of local crafts to browse in the late-afternoon heat. Orchestras strike up in the open air come evening, and most of it costs nothing to join.

The standout is the night of havaneres, the old sea shanties Catalan fishing towns still sing with real feeling. It's traditionally paired with cremada, rum set alight and stirred in a pot before being shared around. Bring the family, find a spot in the square, and settle in for a properly local night.