Mérida or Tarragona Roman Sites (where to swim)

[Polyethyl]

My daughter is in year 7 and choosing which language to learn. I've been encouraging Italian, so naturally she's chosen Spanish. I don't know Spain at all, so I asked chat gpt where would be good for a holiday to see Roman sites and it suggested Mérida or Tarragona. Mérida looks great, except that it is landlocked. Other than hotel swimming pools, is there anywhere beautiful to swim there, after we've tired ourselves out with site seeing?
If not, then we'll go to Tarragona, which google says has clean beaches. I hope that's true.

Merida is great for a day or two as part of a tour of Extremadura and it will be very hot if you are going in the summer. I'm not sure it would work for your daughter, though it would give her a great opportunity to practice her Spanish. Tarragona would give a much more holiday vibe and you can easily travel along the coast to other towns.

I was blown away by the Roman sites in Merida, I don’t know they were there and they’re everywhere. Some blokes build his house on the back of one. And it’s not touristic at all because people don’t seem to know about it and it’s not that easy to get to. A real
hidden gem for Roman history buffs. Nowhere to swim though, that’s true! If you are up for a bit of a drive you could do a dual center holiday and get down to the Andalusian coast.

If she chose Italian, I promised her a holiday in Ostia, where her favourite books are set. So I'm pretty gutted she's taken against the Italian teacher.

If it’s any consolation I studied both and have lived in both and am much more enamored of Spain and Spanish, although I loved Italy I feel my Spanish opened up much more of the world for me. Also you can understand Italian quite well once you know Spanish!

There's extensive Roman ruins at Empuries on the Costa Brava and also between Gibraltar and Portugal, can't remember what it's called, both are right on the coast.