Riudellots de la Selva

Planes, Tractors and a Romanesque Bell Tower

The first thing you notice is the contrast. A Ryanair 737 roars overhead, yet the adjacent field contains a placid horse and a farmer pruning olive trees. Riudellots de la Selva sits 98 m above sea level on the coastal plain of Girona, close enough to the Costa Brava airport that the arrivals board is audible, yet stubbornly rural. Wheat, not tourists, still pays most of the bills.

British visitors usually whizz past on the hotel shuttle at 05:00, eyes fixed on the departure screen. Those who stay longer discover a grid of stone houses, a 12th-century church tower and a bakery that opens at 06:30 so locals can buy pa de pagès before the school run. The village takes twenty minutes to walk across, five if you stride like the Catalan mothers shepherding teenagers towards the bus stop.

A Morning Circuit: Church, Riverlets and Aeroplanes

Start in Plaça de l’Església. The parish church of Sant Esteve mixes Romanesque bones with later Gothic add-ons; its bell turret leans slightly, like a sailor adjusting balance. Swifts nest under the eaves, unconcerned by jet noise. Inside, the air smells of candle wax and damp stone; the retable is 18th-century gilt, flaking gently.

Head south along Carrer Major. Iron balconies hold geraniums and the occasional Union Jack left over from the under-18s football team who stayed here last Easter. After 300 m the street dissolves into a camí de terra, one of the unpaved lanes that fan out towards scattered masías. These farmsteads—some dated 1684 on the lintel—are still family homes. Dogs bark, irrigation water gurgles in narrow riells, the streams that gave the village its name. Turn right and you can complete a 4 km loop through cornfields, poppies and plane trees, with views west to the Montseny massif.

Mid-way, stop at the concrete viewing mound erected for plane-spotters. At 15:00 the daily EasyJet from Luton banks overhead at 1,500 ft; five minutes later nothing moves except a red tractor. Bring binoculars and a packet of Maria biscuits—local grandfathers treat the mound as an open-air theatre.

Lunch Options When the Village is Closed

Riudellots contains one café, one bakery and a corner shop that shuts for siesta 13:30–17:00. If you need something more substantial than bocadillo de tortilla, drive 15 km to Girona’s old town, where El Celler de Can Roca holds three Michelin stars and lunch starts at €195. Budget travellers do better at Can Xerta, 200 m from the Salles Hotel, where a menu del día of grilled chicken, chips and a 33 cl Estrella costs €14. They’ll swap the alioli for ketchup if you ask nicely.

Sundays are dead. The bakery opens 08:00–13:00, then metal shutters descend. Book a table in Girona or stock up at the airport Spar before you collect the hire car.

Pedal Power between Runway and Vineyard

Flat country lanes make Riudellots a handy base for easy cycling. The local tourist office (open Tue & Thu 16:00–19:00, inside the town hall) hands out a free photocopied map: three circular routes, 18–32 km, colour-coded by crop—artichokes, corn, sunflowers. Traffic is light; the main hazard is gravel washed off fields. Bike hire is €18 a day from Hotel Camiral, which also offers a spa and the PGA Catalunya golf course. Greens fees peak at €150 in April; twilight slots drop to €55 after 16:00. Brits who’ve played both say conditioning rivals Wentworth for half the price.

Festivals: Fire, Giants and a Mobile Duck Pond

Late August brings the Festa Major. The village swells from 5,000 to 8,000 as expat sons and daughters return. Events kick off with a correfoc: devils in soot-black costumes dance beneath fireworks, accompanied by a brass band that looks suspiciously like the local school staff room. At 23:00 the square fills with habaneras, sea shanties sung in close harmony, followed by cremat—rum, coffee beans and sugar set alight in a vast caldron. Children shriek, grandparents sip, aeroplanes continue to land in the background.

January’s Sant Antoni is smaller but stranger. Horses, donkeys and lapdogs queue outside the church for blessing; a bonfire of vine prunings crackles in the street; someone wheels in a plastic paddling pool so the duck can receive holy water too. Visitors are welcome, photos encouraged, donations to the animal rescue box appreciated.

When to Come, When to Skip

Spring (mid-April–mid-June) delivers green wheat, mild mornings and plane-spotting under 22 °C. September is harvest time: combine harvesters kick up dust, sunflowers bow their heads, vineyard leaves turn copper. Both seasons suit walking and cycling.

July and August are hot—34 °C at noon—and the village pool charges €3 for a dip. Mid-winter is quiet but muddy; days hover around 12 °C, fields glow emerald after rain. If your flight departs at dawn the hotels are heated and half-price; otherwise you’ll find more life in Girona.

Getting There, Getting Out

Ryanair serves Girona from Stansted, Manchester, Bristol and East Midlands, March–October. A winter Saturday-only route from Luton keeps the airport breathing. Riudellots is 5 min by taxi (€12) or free hotel shuttle—book the seat when you reserve the room. There is no pavement along the C-25 dual-carriageway; walking with suitcases is illegal and dangerous.

Trains run from Girona to Barcelona Sants every 20 min; journey 38 min on the express. Car hire desks close at 23:00; late arrivals should pre-arrange a taxi to an airport hotel and collect keys at dawn.

The Honest Verdict

Riudellots will never compete with coastal whitewash or medieval hill-toppers. It offers a serviceable bed near the terminal, a glance at working Catalan farmland and enough local colour to fill a slow afternoon. Stay one night for the early flight, two if you fancy cycling between corn and runway, three only if you crave silence broken alternately by church bells and jet engines.