Extending S from Tarragona as far as the River Ebro delta, the Costa Dorada ("Golden Coast") consists of 45 mls of fine, sandy beaches shared between a few large resorts and several small picturesque fishing villages. Salou and Cambrils are the main tourist centres. The mountains of the Coastal Range form a backdrop to the whole area. The local airport is at Reus, 10 mls W of Tarragona. Both a motorway and a railway run along the coast.

The Costa Dorada is Spain's "Gold Coast" extending from the city of Barcelona to south of Tarragona in the region of Catalonia. It boasts the dual attractions of seemingly endless miles of golden sandy beaches and the Port Aventura theme park, a Disney style entertainment centre which is the main magnet for many international holidaymakers. This stretch of the coastline has long been popular with Spanish tourists. but it only developed as a major international tourist destination after the opening of Port Aventura in 1995. There are three main tourist centres on the Costa Dorada (Costa Daurada in Catalan) - Salou, La Pineda and Cambrils, all of which are clustered together (unsurprisingly) on the section of coastline nearest to the Universal Studios theme park at Vila-seca.