Festes del Carme and Sant Cristofol (Maritime Patron Festival)

Sant Carles de la Ràpita is a working fishing town, and once a year it turns out to thank the sea that feeds it. The heart of the festival comes around 16 July, when a statue of the Virgin of Carmen, patroness of fishermen, is carried down to the harbour and out across the water on a flotilla of decked-out boats. It's a genuinely local affair: families wave from the quayside, trawlers blast their horns, and the whole fleet does a slow lap of the bay.

Around that, expect the usual week of summer celebrations, with concerts, street events and late nights down by the port. Most of it is free, and the town stays busy well past midnight. You don't need to be religious to enjoy it. Go for the boats, the harbour buzz and a proper look at how a Catalan fishing town lets its hair down.