Another little nugget for the locals and/ or those of you planning to visit Bcn. This city is blessed with beaches close at hand but many visitors choose to amble down to the Barceloneta and burn off their hang-overs on those three or so kms of dusty sand, amidst the pigeons and the pick-pockets and the fag-ends floating about in the gentle swell. I would suggest catching the train to Premià de Mar. It takes all of twenty minutes from Passeig de Gracia and is well worth it. You get off the train and the beach is right there, the sand is…well, real sand and the water is clean and full of fish. I’m no fisherman so I don’t have to lie about this; as I was swimming the length of the beach this afternoon I was surprised by what looked like a “robalo” about as long as my forearm. And that is not counting the countless other little things swimming about in the reef bellow me. Behind the station – about 100m away – you have the church square that occupies the geographic centre of old Premià and its picturesque little streets and houses. The square is a great place for that after beach beer or two. Just saying….