70 years of camping in the Girona region

GironaMore than 70 years have passed since businessman Juan Farré hosted a group of foreign tourists on his land in La Fosca in the summer of 1953. This is one of the first three campsites in the country, and the only one still open today.

To commemorate seven decades of a sector that is now one of the mainstays of tourism in Catalonia, the Girona Camping Association (ACG) – the first to be created in Spain – has commissioned the University of Girona (UdG) to write a compilation book on the history of the sector in Catalonia: Camping. History of camping in Catalonia"It's a very necessary project. Lately, there's been a lot of talk about campsites; I think people think it used to be something residual and now it seems to be all the rage. But it's a sector that's been around for 70 years, and it was very important to put its weight in book format," says Lluís Coromina, dean of the Faculty of Tourism at the University of Girona and co-author of the book, along with the director of the Chair of Gastronomy, Culture, Tourism in Calonge and Sant Antoni at the University of Girona. This book is the first compilation in Spain. A documentary has also been produced. Camping Pioneers. 70 Years of Camping in Catalonia, produced by Visual 13. It lasts 45 minutes and covers the 70 years of camping history in Catalonia, from the sector's emergence as a result of demand from European tourists looking for camping sites, to the present day.

Pioneers in sustainability and digitalization

"The book contains a historical component, but also a future component; therefore, the work is not only about the past but also about the present and future, about where this sector, which has been active for many years, is going," adds Coromina, noting that "it's a sector that has always been very aware of the issue of sustainability. It was one of the first to do so." "In sustainability, the camping sector has been a leader for more than 25 years. Almost half of Catalan campsites have some environmental certification. In the late 1990s, we began working on this topic because one of our greatest assets is the landscape and the territory, and we were very clear that tourism had to be sustainable or it wouldn't exist," says Miquel Go.

"It's a sector that will become more professional. It's also working hard on technology and digitalization, and it must have professionals adapted to these new tourists," says Coromina. ACG is working on a project, Smart Camp, which has been awarded the CETT Alimara prize in the Through Digitalization category for its innovation in presenting smart camping in aspects such as security, energy efficiency, and water consumption control, they explain.

"Camping isn't what it used to be, where tourists came with their cars, tents, or caravans, stayed for a few days, and that was it. Now there are many different types of tourists, and therefore, they need experiences. We're heading in this direction, toward becoming more experiential," says Coromina. "The camping sector is a lifestyle, not a price-based accommodation. Today, you can find campsite accommodation with the comfort of a five-star hotel, and you can find guests on a pitch with a motorhome that costs more than €600,000," adds Gotanegra. "Camping in Catalonia is a sector that has been promoted since the early 1980s, with large holiday parks."

The native tourist, the last to join him

"The study clearly shows that in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, it was international tourists who came, because there are almost no photos of local tourists. For the past ten years, and especially since the pandemic, Catalan and Spanish tourists have exploded, now representing a very high percentage, and there aren't any cameras. The Catalan camping sector has been a benchmark in Europe for years. "When you're in European camping forums, you see it, but in our country, the trend that exists in Europe wasn't there. Since the pandemic, Catalan customers have discovered camping, and now, in Catalonia, we can say that approximately 45% of the customers are Catalan, and 55% are foreigners, taking much longer," explains Gotanegra. "Catalonia is the benchmark for camping in Spain. It's where the camping industry first flourished, and within Catalonia, the Girona region was a pioneer. Since the French, Germans, Dutch, and Belgians came, they stayed here. Girona is where it all began," says Coromina.

Gotanegra also emphasizes the importance of the sector in helping to deseasonalize tourism. "All the growth that the Catalan camping sector has experienced in the last five years has been completely deseasonalized. We've achieved double-digit growth in recent years. This is a key issue because deseasonalization also allows us to talk about sustainability in social terms, because we extend the opening periods at our campsites, and more means more jobs," and that means more jobs and more shares.

Campsites with a lot of history

Sixty percent of the Girona campsites that are part of the ACG—a total of 45 establishments—have already reached or exceeded half a century of history, a fact that demonstrates the consolidation of the sector in the Girona regions. Furthermore, 25 campsites are over 60 years old, and another 18 establishments are between 50 and 60 years old. In 2025, two campsites—Port de la Selva campsite and Rodas de Roses campsite—are celebrating their 50th anniversary.

Marina Mestres is the daughter of the founder of the Valldaro campsite, which had to be sold a couple of years ago due to a lack of generational succession after being run by the family for 60 years. "For the past two or three years, there's been a before and after. Campsites in Catalonia have always been in the hands of pioneering families, but now campsites are starting to be sold for family reasons, a passing of generations, and some are going to large French and Catalan groups who also buy campsites," she explains. In her case, they sold to the family that runs El Delfín Verde in Torroella de Montgrí. However, she is one of the owners of the Inter Pals campsite in Pals, which the family bought after it had been operating for about fifteen years, and her son is the manager. "It's been open for 63 or 64 years," Mestres adds.

La Ballena Alegre campsite was also one of the pioneers in Catalonia. It opened in Castelldefels in 1956 and had to close due to the expansion of El Prat Airport. In 1976, it reopened at its current location in Sant Pere Pescador, and in 2022 it received the award for the most sustainable campsite in Europe. "We value it highly because we compete with the best German, Swiss, and Austrian campsites; I mean, the bar is high. When they award it to you, you realize we've been doing a good job," says Toni Castellar, the campsite's director. "We are located within the Empordà Wetlands Natural Park and we strive to have minimal impact on the environment. Sustainability has been in our DNA for many years. Before the drought, we had already adopted corrective measures in the areas of energy and water conservation," he adds. In Castellar's opinion, "lucky campsites are lucky, because otherwise there might have been a continuation of urban developments from Empuriabrava to L'Escala, and the campsites, in some way, have helped preserve nature, because there are more campsites in the area apart from ours. A camping apartment and more apartments."

The camping sector has 280,000 pitches, represents more than 30% of overnight stays in Catalonia and moves between 4.5 and 5 million tourists a year.