Catalunya lies on the north eastern coast of Spain, stretching north, south, east and west of its capital, Barcelona. Dalí`s great Surrealist paintings of the 1920s and 1930s owe a vital debt to the Upper Empordà region of northern Catalunya and especially to its coastline. The area is well worth a visit for many reasons, ranging from the archaeological to the geological and the gastronomical. But what makes it particularly fascinating is that this is Dalíland.
The master was born in Figueres and his body is buried in the Theatre Museum there, where his first exhibition was held. Cadaqués, Dalí`s childhood paradise, was his home from the age of 26. Dalí and his wife Gala spent almost every spring at Port Lligat. He was hugely inspired by the weird and wonderful rock formations at the Cape of Creus and was but one of the many visitors to Gala`s summer castle residence in Pubol.
Figueres
Figueres is the capital of the Upper Empordà region. A sophisticated market town, it lies just off the A7 motorway and 23 km south of French Spanish border. Dalí was born there in 1904.
Sights
Dalí’s Theatre-Museum, (Plaça Gala i Salvador, tel: +34 72 51 19 76, Open July-September) is Spain’s most visited museum, after the Prado in Madrid. It attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Formerly a municipal theatre, Dalí often came to see plays here as a child. The museum opened in 1974 and now houses his private collection, which he left to the Spanish State on his death in 1989.
Built to his demanding specifications, he was determined to have a museum different from all others - different, first and foremost, from that of his great rival Picasso in Barcelona. A space where things could happen, where visitors could make their own dramatic discoveries (no labels, no explanation, no catalogue).
Many of Dalí’s most famous works can be seen here including The Spectre of Sex Appeal (1932) which reflects his fear of the female form and Galarina (1944-45), arguably the most truthful portrait of his mysterious Russian wife and muse, Gala. Dalí himself is buried beneath what used to be the stage of the theatre yet many visitors miss the concrete slab, which marks the spot. The actual sarcophagus is placed next to the public lavatories. Surreal.
Nearby, French style pavement cafés line the Rambla, the epicentre of Figueres’ social life, along which Dalí often paraded himself in his own inimitable style.
Check out the Museu de l’Empordà (Rambla 1, tel: +34 72 67 45 30) which is filled with Greek and Roman artefacts and paintings by local artists.( Open July-Sept and Oct-June).
Museu de Joguets (Rambla, tel: +34 72 50 45 85) is also worth a visit. A toy museum with over 3,000 exhibits from all over Catalunya, it re-opens in spring 1998 after refurbishment.
There is also a Monument to Narcis Monturiol, inventor of the submarine and a popular hangout for the locals of all ages. Dalí was proud of having been born in the same street as him.
Castell de Sant Ferran (tel: +34 72 50 26 53. Open July– Sept, 10.30am-7.00pm) is the main attraction after the Dalí museum. A huge 17th century castle, it lies 1km north of the town centre. Take the Pujada del Castell from beyond the Dalí museum.
The Thursday market is another Figueres attraction. The country folk no longer wear traditional garb, but their produce makes up for any lack of picturesqueness, particularly the vegetables.
Eating and Drinking
Many of the restaurants in Figueres are found in the narrow streets around the Dalí museum, particularly along Calle Jonquera, while cafés on the Rambla are good for snacks and sandwiches.
El Bulli (near Roses, tel: +34 72 25 76 51) is a half hour drive from Figueres. It has been described as one of the most interesting restaurants in Europe and a gastronomic delight.
Hotel Durán, (Lausaca 5 Figueres, tel: +34 72 50 12 50) The famous, brightly-coloured restaurant adjoining this hotel offers typical Empordanese food such as pigs cheeks and pan con tomate (Catalan bread). Great service and Jaume, the maître, knew Dalí well, who used to tease him about going bald.
The Hotel Empordà (Antigua Carreterra de Francia, Tel: +34 72 50 05 62) The restaurant offers Empordanese food reinterpreted with imagination and flair. Fabulous wine list and great value.
Where to Stay
Hotel Durán, (Lausaca 5 Figueres, tel: +34 72 50 12 50) Doubles from £32-£36 per night. A three-star, family-run friendly hotel, centrally located just off La Rambla. This used to be Dalí’s headquarters in Figueres. The Celler de la Teta is teaming with photos and prints of all things Dalían.
The Hotel Empordà (Antigua Carreterra de Francia, Tel: +34 72 50 05 62) Doubles from £38-£44 per night. Modern, very comfortable and three stars.
Mas de Torrent (Torrent, Tel: +34 72 30 32 92) is 50 km from Figueres. Doubles from £133 per night. A restored 18th Century masia (farmhouse), it has five stars and is where the President of Catalunya stays when he’s in town. Peaceful and serenely beautiful.
Figueres Tourist Information Office, Plaça del Sol, Tel: +34 72 50 31 55
Cadaqués
Cadaqués today is a select and miraculously well-preserved Coasta Brava resort, situated about 30km from Figueres. Cadaqués was famous for smuggling, a profession encouraged by the coast’s innumerable inlets and cave, ideal for hiding booty. On the other side of the coastal range, a twisting road, which was not built until the beginning of this century, leads up the steep side of the Pení mountain range. At the top a stunning view of the Bay of Roses awaits you.
Sights
Visit the Bar Boyà terraced café on the beach and contemplate the scene. It was on this beach that Dalí first saw the sexy Gala and was instantly hooked. The south-east-facing bay is the deepest on the often perilous Costa Brava. Even when the tramuntana, the ferocious wind, blows in, the beach and the harbour are unaffected and sheltered from the elements. The Dalís’ summer quarters were at Es Llané, a few minutes walk from the Boyà. The town itself is filled with galleries and boutiques. The fortified church has a beautiful baroque reredos.
The Museu Perrot-Moore Museum (Calle Vigilant 1, tel: +34 72 25 82 31 Open daily, 10.30am-1.30pm and 4.30pm-8.30pm, £2.50) is a must. It contains paintings, drawings and graphics by Picasso and Dalí. Ex-British Army captain, Peter Moore was Dalí’s so called ‘military adviser’ and is an institution here. It also has many of the painter’s early works including an Impressionist Dalí of the beach at Es Llané and Portrait of Laurence Olivier (1955).
The Museu Municipal (Calle Monturiol 15, tel: +34 72 25 88 77, open daily 11am-1.30pm and 4.00pm-8.30pm, £2.50 but closed Nov-Easter) features work by local artists.
Eating and drinking
There are lots of good restaurants in Cadaqués. Try the delicious fish soup, suquet and if they’re in season, sea urchins. The latter were Dalí’s favourite dish and are unforgettable washed down with a chilled Blanc de Blancs, the slightly fizzy white wine of the region.
Casa Anita, (Miquel Roset 2, Tel: +34 72 25 84 71) is a cheery and reasonably-priced place with communal wooden tables. Juan, the restaurateur is a sort of Yorick figure who makes everyone laugh. At the height of summer, being so small, the place gets really packed, so arrive early.
Es Baluard, Calle Nemesi Llorens, Tel: +34 72 25 81 83
El Pescador, (Calle Nemesi Llorens, Tel : 00 34 72 25 88 59) is a harbourside restaurant with an elegant dining room on two floors and outside seating.
Where to stay:
Playa Sol, (Playa Pianc 3, tel: +34 72 25 81 00/40) has doubles from £45-£71. A three star hotel in a quiet setting by the sea not far from the town centre, it has good sized rooms with balconies and lovely views across the bay.
Residencia de la Academia (Avenida Caritat Serinyana 1, Tel: +34 72 25 83 12) has doubles from £45 per night. Captain Peter Moore’s hotel, across the road from the Bar Boyà, at the hub of Dalíland is the best place for Dalí aficionados if Moore is around.
Llane Petit, (Bartomeus 37, Tel : 00 34 72 25 80 50) has doubles from £49- £62 per night (includes breakfast). This is a comfortable three star hotel by the sea.
Tourist Information, Calle des Cotxe 2, tel: + 34 72 25 83 15
Port Lligat
In 1930 Dalí bought a fisherman’s hut here and set up home with Gala. Only a few minutes drive from Cadaqués, you pass the little cemetery of Sant Baldiri, one of the Mediterranean’s hidden gems, where Dalí’s sister and father are buried. From the cemetery you can look down on what was once Dalí’s shack and which over the years, with the incorporation of adjoining properties, grew into the artist’s fabled labyrinth by the sea. This labyrinth is about to be opened to the public.
Dalí and Gala came here each spring. The household was rigidly organised: every day Dalí would paint from dawn to dusk, with a brief siesta in between; every evening he would entertain the rich, the famous, the hippies and the merely curious who flocked here to be received by the master.
Cape of Creus
Around the corner from Port Lligat is one of the most amazing places in Spain - or anywhere for that matter. Creus is on the easternmost point on the Iberian Peninsula and is the first to feel the morning sun. The Cape is a place of deadly currents and countless ship wrecks. It is dotted with innumerable creeks, cliffs and escarpments made from quartz which sparkle in the sunlight. Over the centuries, the rain and the tramuntana, have sculpted the rocks into strange shapes such as the Eagle, the Camel, the Dead Woman, the Rhinoceros and the Monk. At Creus even the most blasé visitor will soon begin to see strange things. The rocks seem to be in perpetual movement, changing, as the light varies, from one hallucination into another. The prolonged contemplation of the phenomenon led to Dalí’s obsession with optical illusions and visual tricks, notably the double image: you look at something and, as you do so, it suddenly becomes something else (a device which he exploited magnificently in his paintings).
Hire a boat and land at Cadaqués to explore the creeks. Drive to the shore at Tudela where the film maker Luis Buñel shot the opening sequences for L’Age d’or in 1930.
Púbol
This inland village is 80km from Port Lligat in the Lower Empordà and is where Gala had her summer residence. This is now open to the public. For ten summers Púbol was Gala’s love nest, a secret place behind high walls to which Dalí himself was allowed access only, or so he boasted, on receipt of a written invitation. The true history of Gala’s sojourns there will never be known. The lips of the caretakers Joaquim and Dolors Xicot are sealed, as are those of the other villagers, and the young men who came and went have written no memoirs, left no addresses. Chief among them was Jeff Fenholt, the original Jesus Christ Superstar. Gala, then turned 80, fell passionately in love with Jeff in New York, brought him on many occasions to Púbol and, according to her biographers, lavished such a fortune on him that even Dalí was outraged.
The castle is a renovated medieval mansion adorned with trompe d’oeil affects and a swimming pool surrounded by a troupe of Dalían elephants. If you are in the area, it would be a good idea to visit Sant Martí de Empuriés, formerly the Greek and Roman Port of Empuriés, which gave the region its name. It was here that the Romans first landed in Spain in 218 BC, you can still see a piece of the wall where the ships docked over 2,500 years ago.
|
