Lloret de Mar today views

 Holidaymakers are out making the most of todays glorious weather after what has been an unsettled 4-5 days...would you believe we had hailstones almost the size of golfballs just 2 days ago!

Lloret de Mar, a splash of colour!

Both the Town Hall and Sant Roma church tower have looked magnificent this week with the way they have been decorated for the Santa Cristina festival. Brightly coloured flags have been hung from the buildings and across the streets around town and paseo adding a splash of colour to the photos!

Santa Cristina festival

Everyone's favourite event of the annual Santa Cristina festival is the fireworks display held on Llorets main beach. Last night there were thousands of spectators watching the display from all the best view points around town. Our photos were taken from the hillside between Lloret and Fenals from where we can see all over the town with the bright lights of the hotels and nightlife area in the foreground.

Lloret de Mar Nightlife

Lloret de Mar is well known as the nightlife capital of the Costa Brava...appealing mainly to young clubbers, just now with the months of July and August we are right at the hight of the season. Unfortunately though as you can see from these photos taken just last night (Friday) on what should be one of the busiest nights of the year the streets are still relatively quiet. Compared to what we normally see at this time of year the clubs don't have the long winding queues of people waiting for them to open and instead of having to fight your way through the crowds some of the streets in the centre are now almost deserted!

It does make you wonder just how long the businesses can cope with the dwindling trade year after year, I believe its now time time that those in the town who are in charge of promoting Lloret de Mar did so in the right manner by not just bringing people into town and thinking every thing is ok because a few hotels are 80-90% full these same people honestly don't even know what else the town has to offer....for instance I wonder how many of those who are in town just now know of all the fantastic live music events, fireworks  and other activities that have been or are taking place for the Santa Cristina festival, very few from what I've heard! 

Our local parrot!

Regular viewers of this site may remember that early last year I mentioned about a lonely male Ring Necked parakeet who had made Fenals his home particularly around the area we live, see the post here > Parrots in Lloret.

We never saw him with a mate and hoped that one day he would find one as he used squawk and squawk in the trees just of our balcony as though he was trying to attract a mate. 

Well, just recently it seems that he has finally attracted a mate and they've now produced a young baby parrot...so all that squawking has paid off and he's now not such a lonely sorry sight in the trees! 

We managed to catch just a couple of snaps the other day as he brought his family back to the same tree and arial on a nearby apartment block.

A day at Estartit

If you have the benefit of a hire car for your holiday in Lloret de Mar and you want to explore more of the fantastic Costa Brava coastline then Estartit should be added to your 'to do list!'
From Lloret it's a pleasant 1hr drive up the coast to reach the resort which is located at the southern end of the Bay of Roses. These photos from our visit show the Medas Islands just offshore which are very popular with divers and snorkelers owing to the varied marine life living out there around the rocks.
Sports lovers are well catered for at Estartit with boating, fishing, cycling, water skiing, para gliding, hiking and surfing. The local outdoor market is held on Thursdays, but for a more laid back day you could sìmply make the most of the 5km of sandy beach or visit one of the numerous restaurants scattered about the town!

Free Entrance to Lloret Attractions

As part of the current Santa Cristina celebrations some of the most popular attractions will have an free open day this coming Thursday 24th July. Santa Clotilde Gardens, Sant Joan Tower, Can Saragossa and the Museum del Mar on the seafront are the places you can visit for free.
Sant Joan Tower is open 10am - 1pm and 5pm - 7pm.
Santa Clotilde Gardens  10am -7pm
Can Saragossa 10am - 1.30pm
Museum del Mar 10am - 1pm & 4pm - 7pm

Sant Joan Tower

Santa Clotilde Gardens

Antiques Fair in Lloret

 Well, the Antiques Fair in Lloret today was a very disappointing affair! In total there were only about another 4-5 stalls part from the ones here in the photo....very different to last year when there was a double row almost stretching from the town hall to the museum! 

The weather forecast may have put some people off but it didnt stop anyone from visiting the beach! The sky was looking very stormy first thing but it soon cleared in the afternoon and lasted until early evening when the heavens opened and the storm came!

Lloret Clon Festival 2014

 The Bruce Springsteen tribute band 'Manel Fuentes & The Springs Team' were the first act  for this years Clon Festival and what a great show they put on! We were there last night (Fri 18th July) for the start at 10.30pm and as usual managed to get right to the front of the stage where we could get some real close up shots of the band, just a few of which are here on this page but more can be seen here >

Lloret de Mar Clon Festival

Lloret de Mar July events

This weekend there will be another chance to see the 'Giants' as they are parading around the streets of Lloret. Its estimated there will  about 25 Giants from various towns taking part in this weekends event. Llorets giants will be leaving the Maritime Museum at 7pm this evening and make their way through Lloret's shopping area, and tomorrow Saturday 19th they will be out and about again in Placa Dr Adler in the centre of Lloret ending with a 'party' at 7pm in front of the Town Hall.

Beaches closed after shark spotted

Six beaches between the Barcelona towns of El Masnou and Premia de Mar were closed on Tuesday after a Blue Shark was spotted close to shore by the lifeguards.

Blue sharks which can weigh approx 80 kilos are not normally a threat to humans unless they themselves feel threatened. Two more sharks were later seen in the same area.

The beaches were reopened on Wednesday morning.

Today in Lloret

 It seems that everyone in Lloret today headed for the beach and with the temperature reaching 33ºc its no surprise! Its nice to see so many holiday makers in town just now after what has been a very slow start to the season.

A busy Lloret Beach

 Enjoying the sea by boat and pedalo

 Trying to keep cool!