It shelters beneath cliffs covered in umbrella pines, and a generous sandy beach is bisected by a stream (a riera) that runs to the sea. My guidebook tells me that it has retained its fishermen’s quarter, inferring that this is part of its charm. I can see a row of upturned boats at the far end of the beach, but the houses there are nothing special and merge with a shabby low-rise block of apartments and caf? Yet, the story is different at Sa Tuna, a similarly enchanting bay. Construction has been more sympathetic, with stone houses – partly whitewashed – arranged around the little square.At Tamariu, the promenade that wraps around the beach is very attractive, with an up-market riviera atmosphere. A backdrop of white buildings – including a quite smart hotel, several shops and a cluster of restaurants – is fronted by a row of tamarind trees, with benches supplied so that visitors can pause and admire the view. Llafranc is a grander version of the same (and was a favourite of Dali’s), and if you continue up the mountain you can take in wonderful views of the coast and the sea beyond.

But it is unusual for our chosen destination to be overshadowed by its neighbour. The Baix Emporda is one of the prettiest parts of the Costa Brava, a landscape of plains and mountains fringed by a pine-clad coastline of craggy coves and sweeping sands.We are visiting in early February. It’s hardly the season to hang around the Med, especially with the tramontana, a cold northerly wind, whipping the coast for most of our stay But winter is the time to get under the skin of a place. We find little traffic on the roads, even fewer pedestrians on the streets. The towns and villages we pass through are largely deserted and show scant evidence of being busy local communities outside the holiday season. When we see Mies van der Rohe’s clean-cut Modernist pavilion built for the Barcelona World Fair in 1929, it emerges as a clear reaction to the fussiness of Gaudian art nouveau. It is also the inspiration for the bright, open Miro Foundation, which showcases the symbolism Miro developed to explore the unconscious mind.

The Spanish Pavilion from the 1929 Fair shows how radical Van de Rohe’s work was. A neo-classical pile, it now contains Barcelona’s Catalan Art Museum, one of the world’s foremost collections of Romanesque and Gothic art. Its sensational frescos were rescued from small country churches that were falling prey to American collectors almost a century ago.GIVE ME THE FACTSHow to get there”Catalonia, Inspired by Tate” is available through Magic Travel (0870 546 2442; ) Tours depart from April through July 2005. Prices start from £775, per person, based on two sharing including return flights from London or Manchester, transportation, seven nights’ b&b at the 4-star Hotel Gran Havana, guided visits and entrance fees. Tours accompanied by a Tate curator or art expert depart on 9 April and 28 May and cost £825 per person, on the same basis as above.More informationThe Spanish National Tourist Office (020-7486 8077; ).. So why does Catalan sound so French, I ask my Catalan friend.