Standing on the edge of the marina in the port of Palamós, about an hour’s drive north of Barcelona, I shiver in the dark, 6am chill. A 16th-century church bell tower looms high above the Old Town behind me and only the metallic whine of the chains linking the boats to the dock interrupts the early morning silence.
I’ve come to join Xavi Miró and his crew aboard the Estrella del Sur III for a day of ‘pescaturisme’ (fishing tourism), accompanying them as they trawl the sea off the Catalan coast for gambas rojas, the red prawns for which Palamós is known. Like champagne and parmigiano reggiano cheese, the prawns have a protected designation of origin classification and have to be caught within a specific radius of the Palamós coast.
With its succulent, intensely flavoursome flesh, this shellfish is prized throughout Spain, appearing on the menus of local restaurants as well as at
