Coma-ruga (; ) is a seaside resort in the municipality of

El Vendrell El Vendrell () is a town located in the province of Tarragona, Catalonia, in the wine-growing region of Penedès. It is wedged between the Mediterranean and the coastal range. El Vendrell is the capital of the Baix Penedès ''comarca'' and a t ...

, in the province of

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in Catalonia (Spain). It is the capital and largest town of Tarragonès county, the Camp de Tarragona region and the province of Tarragona. Geographically, it is located on the Costa Daurada ar ...

(

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, Spain). It stretches along the 2.3 km long . Until 1946 it made part of the former municipality of

Sant Vicenç de Calders Sant Vicenç de Calders () is a village in the El Vendrell municipality, in the Baix Penedès comarca, Province of Tarragona, Spain. The village was an independent municipality until the 1940s, and is SE of El Vendrell. It has a population of ju ...

Location

Comar-ruga is located in the eastern part of the Costa Dorada, some 55 km to the West of Barcelona-El Prat Airport, near the popular tourist resorts of Calafell and

Torredembarra Torredembarra (), normally called La Torre by its inhabitants, is a town in the ''comarca'' of the Tarragonès, in the province of Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. It is located on the Costa Daurada, it faces Altafulla to the west, La Pobla de Monto ...

. Developed in the 1950s and 1960s, Coma-ruga has become a popular tourist destination, particularly for families. A fine beach of golden sand stretching along more than 2 km is its main attraction.

Climate

Coma-ruga has a Typical Mediterranean climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

: ''Csa'') characterized with mild winters and hot summers. The rainiest season is the autumn, and the driest season is the summer. The sunshine hours are above 2,500.

History

The first written reference to Coma-ruga appears in 1180, when the abbot of Sant Cugat granted to Arnau Sunyer i Berenguer the place named ''"ipsum vilare de Coma Ruga"'', near the castles of Calders and Saint Vincent. The concession didn't grant the property of the pond of Coma-ruga, which belonged to the

Monastery of Sant Cugat The Monastery of Sant Cugat (, ) is a Benedictine abbey in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Catalonia, Spain. Founded in the ninth century, and under construction until the 14th century, it was the most important monastery in the county of Barcelona. Its ...

. In 1183 the abbot of the

granted additional rights in favour of Bernat de Papiol who accepted the compromise of guarding and defending the properties of the monastery and its inhabitants. In 1887 the train station of Sant Vicenç de Calders was built within the lands of Coma-ruga. During the 20th century, this train station became one of the most important railway intersections in

. Due to this reason, a small neighborhood developed around it, mostly of railway workers and its families. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, this station was attacked several times by the fascist army of

General Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republ ...

. Due to the collaboration of Italian airplanes (hydroplanes) during the Christmas holidays of 1938 (between the 25th and the 29th), Coma-ruga was heavily bombed causing dozens of casualties. In 1892 the hot springs of the pond and small creek (''riuet'') of Coma-ruga were declared of public interest for its health properties by the . In 1920 a Hotel and Spa was built near the pond. This started the urban development of Coma-ruga which later in the 1960s and 1970s would become an important tourist town.

Demography

Population

In 2015 the population of Coma-ruga was 4,074.

Languages

The two official languages are

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

and Catalan. The regional and local governments almost exclusively use Catalan and public signs are usually written in this language.

is the language of business and the most commonly spoken language among residents and visitors. Most young people have some knowledge of English. People working in the tourism industry may also speak other languages ( French, Dutch,

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, etc.).

Religion

There is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church, built in 1956-57. Masses are offered in

and Catalan.

Infrastructure

Transportation

* Barcelona–El Prat Airport is located 56 km to the east of Coma-ruga. There is a train connection from

station, through Barcelona-Sants every 30 minutes. * Coma-ruga's railway station (the official name is Sant Vicenç de Calders) is mostly used by commuter trains. Most of the day there are 3 trains per hour to Barcelona and 1-2 to Tarragona (2017). *

Camp de Tarragona railway station Camp de Tarragona is a railway station, opened on 19 December 2006, on the Madrid–Barcelona high-speed rail line between Madrid and Barcelona. Located between the municipalities of La Secuita and Perafort,AVE is a Latin word, used by the Roman Empire, Romans as a salutation (greeting), salutation and greeting, meaning 'wikt:hail, hail'. It is the singular imperative mood, imperative form of the verb , which meant 'Well-being, to be well'; thus on ...

) Barcelona-Madrid. There are eleven connections per day (2017). * Coma-ruga is served by three motorways: AP-2 (

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

, and then to

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

), AP-7 ( French border-

Vera Vera may refer to: Names *Vera (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Vera (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) **Vera (), archbishop of the archdiocese of Tarr ...

) and C-32 (Autopista Pau Casals), to Barcelona–El Prat Airport and

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

along the coast.

Healthcare

* The nearest hospital (Hospital Comarcal del Vendrell) is located at El Vendrell, 8 km to the northeast.

Tourism

Tourist Information

* The Tourist Information Office is located at Av. Brisamar, 1 (Coords: N 41º 10. 952' E 001º 31. 319').

Nearby attractions

Vil·la Casals
the house-museum of cellist

Pau Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), known in English as Pablo Casals,Arc de Berà The Arc de Berà (sometimes erroneously written Barà) is a triumphal arch some 20 km north-east of the city of Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain, close to Roda de Berà. This monument is part of the Archaeological Ensemble of Tarraco, which was ...

. Roman, 1st century BC. 6.6 km to the west. * Scipions Tower. Roman, 1st century BC. 21 km to the west. *

Les Ferreres Aqueduct The Ferreres Aqueduct ( ), also known as the Pont del Diable (; ), is an ancient bridge, part of one of the Roman aqueducts that supplied water to the ancient city of Tarraco, today Tarragona in Catalonia, Spain. The bridge is located 4 km north ...

, also known as ''Devil's Bridge''. Roman, probably from the reign of Augustus (27 BC–14 AD). 30 km to the west. *

. The Roman ruins o
''Tarraco''
(old name of Tarragona) have been designated a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

. Another interesting building is the

Cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

, dating to the 12th-13th centuries and combining Romanesque and Gothic architectural elements. 31 km to the west. * Santes Creus Monastery. Gothic style, 12th-13th century. 35 km to the northwest.

Marina

* The Coma-ruga Marina was built in 1976 and is managed by th
Club Nàutic Coma-ruga

Photo Gallery

Image:ComarrugaBeach2012.jpg, Beach. View from the West Image:Spain.Vendrell.Coma-Ruga.Riuet.00.jpeg, The Creek (''riuet'') Image:Viladelsangels.JPG, Villa Buenaventura (1933) Image:Villatorres.comarruga.JPG, Villa Torres (Art Nouveau style) (1910) Image:Iglesiacomarruga.jpg, Roman Catholic Church of Saint Raymond Nonnatus (1956–57)

External links

Our Beaches (El Vendrell Tourist Information Office)

Vil·la Museu Pau Casals

Information on the commuter rail service.

References

{{reflist Populated places in Baix Penedès