Seen from the sea, Tarragona seems to be built on a cliff, and the Roman amphitheatre was put where the cliff meets the beach, so that spectators could look out over the water. It lies less than a kilometre from the city's centre, between the old town and the sand of Miracle beach, and it is one of the best-preserved Roman arenas in Spain. Tàrraco was the capital of a vast province, Hispania Tarraconensis, and the empire's governors, soldiers and tax officials spent years here, so the buildings were meant to be impressive.
In AD 259, according to the early Christian accounts, the bishop Fructuosus and his deacons Augurius and Eulogius were burned alive in this arena during the persecutions of Valerian. Later a basilica was raised on the spot, and in the twelfth century a Romanesque church, Santa Maria del Miracle, rose over its remains. You can still see the church's foundations in the middle of the oval. That layering, gladiators and martyrs and monks, gives the place a weight which the simple stone terraces do not.
The riding on this side of Catalonia is a mixed bag. The coast road is busy and urban, and you will want to leave the motorway for the lesser roads of the Camp de Tarragona, which wind through vineyards and hazelnut orchards. A good day in the hills behind the city takes you towards Prades and the Priorat, whose slate slopes produce some of Spain's most sought-after reds. The Mediterranean light is bright, and the best months for riding are May, June and October.
Tarragona itself is easy for motorbikes, with parking bays along the seafront and a ring of garages on the edges, and the main hazards are one-way streets and tram-like traffic in the old centre. A late afternoon walk along the Rambla Nova ends at the Balcó del Mediterrani, a viewpoint above the sea, and the old town has restaurants specialising in rice with seafood and a sauce called romesco, made with peppers and almonds. The city is also known for the castells, human towers built by teams of local people, which you can catch at festivals in summer and autumn.