Last week was hot. And this week…still hot. Our old bedroom is now the Bed Frame Room, as the mattress permanently lives in the living room under the fan. Use of the oven is forbidden. I’m on a four-day ice-cream streak. And our clothes are drying in about 90 minutes on the line.
So we take to the sea.
The beaches near Terres de L’Ebre are actually quite lovely and pretty close to Tortosa. A 30 minute bus or train trip will get you to a swimming spot, or if you have enough energy you can keep walking or riding until you find a beach all to yourself.
A great walk mentioned by this excellent book is a section of the GR (Gran Recorrido) 92, which snakes from the top of Catalonia all the way to the bottom of the Spanish Mediterranean coast, hugging the sea all the way. One morning a few weeks ago we set out to conquer 17km of this 583km pilgrimage, from L’Ametlla del Mar to L’Ampolla.
The walk was long, and hot, and took us the best part of 6 hours (including swimming stops), but we saw some beautiful water and amazing Catalan coastline. Hiking really is a group activity here, and so we passed, and were passed by, many packs of flour-wearing, pole-wielding walking groups. We were even lucky enough to spot a g-string-wearing abuela trudging along with her backpack. Quite the sight! It’s a bit different from Australia, where people hike to enjoy the serenity.
Some hidden and not so hidden beaches we’ve come across.
We’ve marked our favourite beaches (and the ones with promising camping hideaways) to get us through the rest of the summer.
Another cooling activity this weekend was the XV Piraguada Popular en Defense de L’Ebre, or a paddle down the river in protest of the plans to divert much of the Ebro River into irrigation, threatening the ecosystem of the river and its important delta. The trip was also part of Big Jump, a European-wide day of river celebration. We have been keen to see the river from water height since we arrived, and jumped at the chance to paddle the 10km from Xerta to Tortosa yesterday.
After a short bus trip to Xerta, we found the kayaks waiting for us. More than 150 people took part, as well as a few adorable and brave dogs. The event was launched with a few fireworks (at 9:30am, of course), and included a considerate morning-tea stop after about an hour for bacon sandwiches and beer.
We cruised down the river, ogling the birds, the estuarine ecosystems and the sadly regular piles of rubbish. The Ebro River is the longest river in Spain, and the fourth largest river that feeds into the Mediterranean, although it was very shallow in parts today. In fact we were told that the dam managers up river had to let extra water out so that we could paddle.
We eventually reached Tortosa in about 3.5 hours, including a couple of water fights and swimming stops. After nearly eight months walking along the Ebro every day, it was lovely to finally be in it! Although I am not sure how healthy the water really is – we have been warned against eating any fish we may catch due to high levels of mercury. The motley crew of demonstrators then banded together and paddled through the town en masse, before wading into the water to show just how low the water levels are.
Ebro #BigJump por un rio vivo y un Delta con futuro. No permitamos que el plan hidrologico lo liquide todo. #Ebrepic.twitter.com/as2xcPzeb3
— Defensa de l’Ebre (@PDE) July 12, 2015
lindenashcroft.com 
Hi again! Wow, didn’t realize you’d done the Piraguada too – we are regulars (the ones in the red canoe, as opposed to a kayak), I think we’ve only missed 2 in the 15 years we’ve been doing it. This is the clearest I’ve ever seen the river, and definitely the most appetizing for a dip – though, as you say, clear doesn’t necessarily mean clean and healthy. For sure there’s plenty of mercury in there from the factory in Flix. If you check out the Facebook page of the PDE, you’ll see a few photo albums – one with plenty (232 photos?) of close ups where you might see yourselves.
Brian
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Thanks Brian! We’ll definitely check out the PDE photos. I’m sure we’ll meet someday soon!
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Probably in the Renaissance festival activities! Tip: it’s very hot there in a normal year, so imagine this year! Best thing is to be a night owl and concentrate on night time activities rather than the day ones!
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