El Granada is an unincorporated coastal village on the Pacific side of San Mateo County, about 25 miles south of San Francisco and 45 miles north of Santa Cruz. It sits just north of Half Moon Bay, on the flatter coastal terrace between the Santa Cruz Mountains and the ocean, with the communities of Princeton-by-the-Sea to the west and Moss Beach to the north. The village takes its name from the Spanish city of Granada. The community's layout is one of its most distinctive features. In the early 1900s, the Shoreline Investment Company planned a grand seaside resort for the area, and the streets of El Granada were laid out — according to local history — with a winding, radial plan attributed to the noted architect Daniel Burnham. That design gives the village a sense of openness and ocean orientation that still shapes it today, even though the full resort was never built. Pillar Point Harbor sits at the village's southwestern edge, serving as a working fishing harbor and recreational boating center, with the famous Mavericks surf break offshore beyond the point. El Granada's roughly 5,200 residents live in a community described as a suburban-rural mix, where most households own their homes. The area functions as part of the broader midcoast, alongside Half Moon Bay, Moss Beach, and Montara, sharing its schools, coastline, and small-town character. Fog and cool ocean air define the climate much of the year, and the surrounding coastal bluffs and beaches draw visitors through the seasons. The village's position offers a quieter, coastal alternative to the Bay Area's urban core, with San Francisco and Silicon Valley within commuting distance over the coastal hills.