# Santa Susanna

Santa Susanna is a resort city of 3,400 people (2018) on the Costa Maresme in Catalonia. The beaches, bays and facilities of the Costa Brava are nearby. It is a laid-back town set between the Mediterranean Sea and the mountainous wooded backdrop of the Massif Montenegre. It is a popular holiday destination for Spanish and foreign tourists.

## Understand

Santa Susanna's narrow cobbled streets give it a medieval air, and there are many ancient buildings and monuments. Its region is known for its fruit and vegetables.
The town has a mild temperate and Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers, and mild winters.
Santa Susana is a municipality in the province of Barcelona in the autonomous region of Catalonia, Spain. It belongs to the province of maresme.
Santa Susana is a municipality located on the Mediterranean coast. It is 60 km away from Barcelona. The beach is surrounded by pine forests and a clean, golden sandy beach stretches for 2 km. The Santa Susana Tourism Authority claims that Santa Susana is the perfect place for family tourism.
Santa Susana is close to the El Montnegre i El Corredor Nature Park. Measuring 150 km2 in area, the park spans the regions of Valles-Oriental and Maresme. Its highlands contain the Corredor Sanctuary, a hermitage built in the 16th century to honor the Virgin Mary. This is because the name of the natural park contains the El Corredor. The Corredor Sanctuary was built 657 m above sea level. The natural park is divided into the Corredor Mountains and the Montnegre, which are bordered by the Valgorgina and Arenys rivers.

## History

The history of Santa Susana began around the 12th century when farmers settled on the Balask Plain. Due to the threat of pirates, the residents settled in places with less exposure to the sea and higher ground.
True history began in the 19th century. Juan Álvarez Mendisabal, the prime minister of the liberal regime who came to power in 1835, and Javier de Burgos, the minister, reorganized local administrative districts, making Santa Susana independent.
According to the 1849 Dictionary of Geographic Statistics of Spanish and Overseas Colonies, there were 120 residents in Santa Susana. They made a living by growing grapes and hunting rabbits. The dictionary evaluated that the land in Santa Susana was fertile while the forest was insignificant.
The book shows that Santa Susanna was then called Santa Susanna de la Bisbal. In the midst of Spain's civil war in 1936, the republicans changed the name of Santa Susanna to Montagut de Mar in a process to remove the color of religion from its place name. It was a one-sided decision. Later, some suggested changing the name to Montagut del Maresme but lost in a referendum. When pro-Catholic Francophans took power, the municipality's parliament changed the city name to "Santa Susanna" in 1939.
Today, Santa Susana municipality authorities are focusing on fostering tourism, saying that you can see both pristine and traditional Catalan rural areas here.

## Get in
### By plane

Barcelona El Prat Airport BCN is about 1 hour away by car. Barcelona city lies between the Barcelona airport and the town, so if you plan to go by car, it can take well over 2 hr in the rush hour. By train, travelling time is around 2 hr 30 min and you must switch trains at Sants station. Take line R2NORD to Sants. There, you must change to R1 , direction Mataró-Maçanet/Massanes.
Girona/Gerona/Costa Brava airport GRO is about 45 min away by car. Going by bus/train is possible, but probably is eassier to go to Barcelona and then from Barcelona to Santa Susanna.

### By train

Santa Susannais served by Rodalies-RENFE Rodalies-Renfe trains. It's on the line R1 that goes from Molins de Rei to Maçanet/Massanes, crossing Barcelona city.
It is 64 km from Barcelona.
* 41.6301472.7163081 Santa Susanna railway station (Estación de Santa Susana). (updated May 2021)

### By car

It is 64 km (40 mi) from Barcelona
* C-32 : Free motorway (few years ago it was a paid motorway). It comes From Barcelona to the south, and from Blanes and Costa Brava to the North.
* The N-2 goes parallel to C-32 but along the coast, crossing all villages

## Do

The neaby Parc del Montnegre i el Corredor provides a beautiful landscape for hikers, mountain biking, and horse riding.
There is a long strip of golden beach surrounding Santa Susanna. There are water sports facilities along the seafront.

### Road Cycling

You can train along the coast in the N-II road between El Masnou and Santa Susanna. Or try the road from Arenys to Port of Collsacreu to Sant Celoni .
In Sant Pol de Mar starts the bv-5128 and then the BV-5031 until Mataró. This route is a favorite among locals. They call it "el pollastre" (the chicken).

### Mountain Bike

Head up to the Parc del Montnegre i el Corredor, for trails along the forests.

## Buy

At the weekly market on Tuesday, you can buy local produce. during the summer, an artisans' market is open in the afternoons.

## Sleep

* 41.6369672.715341 Hotel Santa Susanna Resort, Crta. Nacional 2, Km. 673, ☏ +34 937679256. Check-in: 13:00, check-out: 10:00. Santa Susanna Resort is approximately 1.2 km from the beach and approximately 900 m from the tourist part of the town. The hotel has 215 rooms. There is a daily bus service to the beach and town free of charge for the guests from 09:00 until 22:00 (last bus) and it runs every 30 minutes.

### Campgrounds

* camping oasis
* Càmping El Pinar Platja
* Càmping Bon Repòs

## Go next

* Blanes beach resort with two botanical gardens and modernist buildings is easily reachable by coach or ferry.