Travellers' Checks | How ‘uncool’ Costa Brava got its mojo back
Before Spain’s ‘rugged coast’ acquired its seedy reputation as a cheap-package-holiday destination in the 1970s and 80s, it was much sought after by celebrities like Charlie Chaplin and Frank Sinatra
Back in vogue
One of the original cheap-package holiday destinations, Spain’s Costa Brava made the news recently after travel company Thomas Cook announced plans to return there for the first time since 2009 (Thomas Cook Airlines will fly package tours to Girona-Costa Brava Airport from Birmingham, Bristol and Manchester from May).
The company is reinventing the region as a “retro” holiday destination for travellers aged under 30, who won’t recall its rather seedy reputation of the 1970s and 80s. Before 1965, the year that Girona-Costa Brava Airport opened the door to cheap all-inclusive package tours from northern Europe, the Costa Brava was an exclusive destination, with affluent tourists driving over the nearby border with France.
Now better known for fine dining than for fish and chips, the Costa Brava is quite easy to get to from Hong Kong, beginning only 60km northeast of Barcelona. Cathay Pacific has said it will resume direct flights to the city in mid-April (by which time the Hostal de la Gavina will have reopened for the summer season) or you can get there more cheaply via Paris with Air France.