April/May 2026


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SUNNY SALOU | 39


Dancing the Calypso in sunny Salou


BY BRIAN McCALDEN


THIRTY years after a charter flight to Reus saw our first ever family foreign holiday, we recently marked a return to this compact, people friendly Spanish airport. In fact, it restored the long since lost ‘joy’ of travelling - eroded by decades of travelling through the many ‘super hubs’ now existing around


the


Mediterranean – with a swift, simple and easy transit from aircraft seat to resort transfer – avoiding queues,


Our destination, as it was more than


28 years ago, was Salou. It remains a busy tourist attraction, but if anything, it has improved like a fine wine, aged well over the years.


The Hotel Calypso – our Easyjet Holidays choice – was an interesting mixture of 90 percent Spanish pensioners, a very few British visitors like us and seemingly endless coach loads of teenage


boys hassle


and finally more ‘lines’ for buses and taxies. It began well too, in Belfast International’s much enlarged and repurposed departure area. Of course, Reus is best known for the


nearby resort of Salou, but it also enjoys trade to both the super busy Barcelona area and to the rural villages and Roman era settlements of not only Reus itself, but also the ‘must-see’ city, Tarragona, and the amazing Parc de l’amphitheatre at the foot of its own Rambla.


FINE WINE


and girls drawn to competitions at Salou’s superb soccer stadia.


All through the early


tourist season, throngs of these exceptionally well behaved young international players interacted well with other guests, even to joining in on the extremely energetic Calypso/Salsa/Macarenna evening dancing each evening.


These Spanish senores and senoritas love their dancing, putting other ‘senior citizens’ in the shade; amazing to see and


enjoy their obvious ‘alegria de la vida’. The Calypso Hotel, in the main season, has less ‘senores’ and more British and Irish families as guests, but the early mix is very much to be enjoyed.


TOURISM But to the changing face of the resort


itself; Salou may not be Marbella, but it has a great deal to offer visitors. A little over a two and a half hour


flight brings visitors to Reus with a 20 minute transfer to the resort. It is an hour away from Barcelona, but a world away from that bustling city. Three decades ago we could only


briefly venture into the main area as we were staying in the Cap Salou development, just outside town. This time we got to see Salou itself up-close. The mile long plus,


well


appointed ‘promenade’ Passeig Jaume de Salou runs along Platja Llevant, the resort’s main beach, with numerous chiringuios – beach bars – on offer, at


very reasonable


prices, considering the awesome vistas.


Big enough never to be too crowded, the


platja is backed


by small hotels and restaurants and beyond that, the usual tourist themed bars and shops, all selling much the same trinkets and groceries, always at reasonable prices.


but


‘Real shopping’ is advised via a short bus ride to the city of Tarragona and its huge market and two ultra modern shopping centres.


Highly recommended in Salou is the Platja dels Capellans,


much smaller beach than the main one and just a 10 minute dander from The Calypso Hotel.


It boasts two chiringuios and offers clear,


option


foreshore of


water, a shallow child- friendly the


clean and


a short, a beautiful,


scenic seafront boardwalk to the main beach area and its numerous seafront restaurants that lead onto Platja Llevant itself.


After experiencing numerous Med resorts, there is actually a lot of positives about Salou. There are no ‘lookee-lookee’ men to


plague your outside dining and general ‘danders’ with demands to buy their fake goods, there are no beggars – as far as we could see at the beginning of May – a reassuring police presence and the streets are spotless, as are the early season beaches and seawater. Numerous dogs were being walked yet there was zero dog mess – shame on us at home – and of course, Salou is a short flight away from Belfast International, even closer from Dublin, so all in all, give the resort a try and dance the Calypso or the Salsa, perhaps even at the family- friendly Calypso Hotel.


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