Spain's Costa Brava Celebrates 100 Years
Now is the Best Time to Visit the Spanish Coast Near Barcelona
May 27, 2009
Of all Spain's costas, perhaps the most picturesque is the Costa Brava, long a favorite of artists. Exactly a century ago, local journalist Ferran Agulló, writing about this 1,240-mile stretch of cliff-backed beaches, referred to it as the Costa Brava – the wild coast. The name stuck, and it became one of Europe’s favorite beach destinations.
New Tourist Route for Art and Culture
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of its name, the Costa Brava is staging a birthday party from April 2009 through September 2010. During this celebration, special attention will go to the places associated with the artists who lived, worked and visited the region, drawn to its natural beauty. A new ruta --- tourist route --showcases the costa's art, culture and scenic attractions.
Dali Museum Most Popular in Europe
The area runs from the River Tordera, south of Barcelona, north to Spain’s border with France. The Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dalí lived in Cadaqués, and at Figueres, Dali’s birthplace, Museu Dali is one of Europe’s most popular museums. As much theater as museum, this is the largest of Dali’s works, filled with paintings, sculpture and installations – even the building itself celebrates surrealism.
Picasso and Chagall on the Costa Brava
Other leading figures of the arts who lived, visited and worked on the Costa Brava are Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Man Ray, the surrealist film director Luis Buñuel, the poet Federico García Lorca and poet Paul Eluard, one of the founders of surrealism.
Through September 2010, the Costa Brava will host a series of art and photographic exhibitions and concerts highlighting the area’s rich artistic history and present.
- Girona – On July 24 Costa Brava 21st Century opens at the Caixa Girona Culture Centre, featuring works by contemporary Catalonian artists that depict the Costa Brava through 21st-century eyes.
- Traveling exhibitions – The Costa Brava Before the Costa Brava features 105 photographs made between 1915 and 1936; Two Views of the Territory: Memories of the Costa Brava presents 60 photographs taken in the 1950s and 1960s. Moments features 20 color photographs taken during the past four years.
- Roses – On June 23, a concert will be held at the Roses Citadel.
- Costa Brava's four major music festivals -- Cap Roig, Peralada, Sant Feliu de Guixols and Torroella de Montgrí -- will all give special centennial concerts.
Michelin Stars on the Costa Brava
The Costa Brava is known for its cuisine and for the chefs who interpret it, and eight of its restaurants have been awarded Michelin stars. Three went to Ferran Adrià of ElBulli in Roses, who also tops the European Restaurant Ranking. Adrià and fellow Michelin-starred chefs Joan Roca of El Celler de Can Roca in Girona and Jaume Subirós of the restaurant at Hotel Empordà, near the Dali Museum in Figueres, are creating a centennial menu, and restaurants all along the coast will feature traditional dishes of the past 100 years.
Getting to the Costa Brava
The Costa Brava stretches right through Barcelona, where beautiful white beaches are a short walk from the central Gothic Quarter. Sign up for a day trip that covers the highlights (including the Dali Museum), or take a local bus to any of its towns to spend a few days.
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