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Salou sits on the Costa Daurada, the stretch of Catalan coastline whose name, meaning Golden Coast, comes from the warm amber tone of its sandy beaches. The town faces south-west into the Mediterranean, which gives it a sheltered aspect and reliably long summers that draw visitors from across Europe. Its position roughly equidistant between Barcelona and the Ebro Delta makes it a natural base for the region, though most people who come here are not thinking about geography. They are thinking about the sea.

The beach is the organising principle of Salou in a way that is true of very few places. The Platja Llarga stretches for several kilometres and merges almost imperceptibly with the sands of Cambrils to the south, a smaller fishing town that has retained more of its working harbour character. The Passeig de Jaume I, Salou's main seafront promenade, was laid out with a certain civic ambition: wide pavements, mature palms, and a fountain that has become one of the town's most photographed landmarks. Behind it, the old quarter around the church of Santa Maria is modest but genuine, a reminder that Salou existed as a port long before the hotels arrived. It was from this coast that James I of Aragon launched his fleet towards Mallorca in 1229, a fact the town commemorates with some pride.