AMARAL, THE ICE BREAKER IN SANT FELIU DE GUÍXOLS

Today, Claire Fontaine and The Grandma have visited Sant Feliu de Guíxols, in the Baix Empordà to listen to Eva Amaral and Juan Aguirre, two of the artists who participate in the Porta Ferrada Festival during this summer.

Porta Ferrada is a Catalan, Mediterranean and European festival.

The Porta Ferrada Festival, born in 1958 in Sant Feliu de Guíxols, is the oldest summer festival in Catalonia. 

It is unique in the Costa Brava for its wide range of artistic disciplines, features consolidated artists and new talents of the international and local scene.

Rooted in Sant Feliu de Guíxols, the festival fills up every corner of the Catalan town with the best cultural activities in an incomparable scenario to fully enjoy all their proposals. In the streets, squares and venues; music, theater, workshops and many more complementary activities become essential players in the summer of the town.

Sant Feliu de Guíxols is a municipality in the comarca of the Baix Empordà in Catalonia. It is situated on the Costa Brava and is an important port and tourist centre. The district abuts to the north, the upmarket s'Agaró resort built round the Sant Pol Beach. In addition to tourism and the port the cork industry is a traditionally local industry. The town contains a large monastery which now houses the town museum and is a protected historico-artistic monument.

The name Sant Feliu goes back to the martyred saint, Felix of Girona (d. August 31, 304), who came from Carthage in North Africa. Guíxols is a word derived from the former word iecsalis from a tenth-century document that mentions the monastery and seems to mean "rope-maker".

An Iberian settlement was already present in the 5th century B.C. in the hill where the Salvament lies today. From the 1st century B.C. onwards, the population started moving to the plains surrounding the Riera de les Comes, where, in the Middle Ages, the Monestir de Sant Feliu de Guíxols was built. The settlement grew, and soon dwellings started to spring up on the other side of the watercourse, which would become the nucleus of the medieval town, centered on the market.

More information: Instagram-Porta Ferrada

Amaral is an Aragonese-Basque rock duo from Zaragoza, who have sold more than four million albums worldwide. The band consists of Eva Amaral (vocals) and Juan Aguirre (guitar), who write their songs together.

Amaral and Aguirre met in 1992 in a bar in Zaragoza. She played drums in a local punk rock band called Bandera Blanca and also sang with Acid Rain. Aguirre was playing with a band called Días de Vino y Rosas at the time. Soon after they met, the two decided to play together and perform their own material.

In 1997, they signed a major deal with EMI. Amaral's musical style is often called pop rock, but it is often fused with Latin beats, folk rock, synthesizers, complex poetic lyrics, and in particular, traditional folk music. Their distinctive style was described by Juan as folk, and the person who has heard a lot of folk and traditional music will listen and understand, but I think our attitude to life is rather that of a rock group.

Juan Aguirre was born in Donostia in the Gipuzkoa, Basque Country. He spent his childhood in the town of Gros and currently resides in Zaragoza, while Eva originates from Zaragoza. The inspirations for their songs include cinema, friends, and literature.

Amaral have won numerous awards including the MTV Europe Music Award for their 2002 album Estrella de mar, which was nominated for 5 other categories.

As of 2019, they have released eight studio albums, one (double) live album, and two live DVDs.

More information: Instagram-Amaral

We are a libertarian group that
doesn't think of music as a conquest or a competition...
We chose music as a way to break a lifestyle
that we didn't like and a society
that we don't understand.

Eva Amaral

PERATALLADA, MAYTE & ROBIN HOOD VISIT L'EMPORDÀ

Today, The Grandma has received some news from Mayte, who has spent some days in Peratallada, one of the most beautiful towns of El Baix Empordà.

Peratallada is a town in the municipality of Forallac, in the county of El Baix Empordà, in Catalonia. It is located 22 km east of Girona.

Its name is derived from pedra tallada, meaning carved stone. 

Declared a historic-artistic monument, most of the buildings are built from stone carved from the fosse or moat which still encircles parts of this small fortified medieval town. 

The privately owned Castle of Peratallada is the dominant structure in the center of the town, with a 13th-century Romanesque church dedicated to Sant Esteve (Saint Stephen) outside the town walls. 

The castle has been documented as early as 1065 AD and it was restored as a luxury hotel in the 1960s. During restoration, traces of settlement were found that date back to the Bronze Age.

Today, Peratallada is known for its beautiful old stone buildings, rutted stone streets and passageways. Its proximity to the beaches of the Costa Brava and its numerous restaurants, small boutique hotels and artists' galleries make it a popular destination. 

The 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was partly filmed on location here.

A festival -the Festa Major, is held every year in early August with concerts and activities and there is a medieval festival in the autumn.

More information: Visit Peratallada

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is a 1991 American action adventure film based on the English folk tale of Robin Hood that originated in the 12th century.

Directed by Kevin Reynolds and written by Pen Densham and John Watson, the film stars Kevin Costner as Robin Hood, Morgan Freeman as Azeem, Christian Slater as Will Scarlett, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Marian, and Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham.

The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised Freeman's and Rickman's performances and Kamen's score, but criticized Costner's performance, the screenplay and the overall execution.

Nevertheless, it was a box office success, grossing more than $390 million worldwide, making it the second-highest-grossing film of 1991.

Rickman received the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance as George, Sheriff of Nottingham.

The theme song (Everything I Do) I Do It for You by Bryan Adams was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and it won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.

More information: Den Of Geek

I loved medieval architecture 

when I was very small;
I don't know why.

Andrew Lloyd Webber

VISIT & ENJOY CALELLA DE PALAFRUGELL WITH MAYTE

Today, The Grandma has received wonderful news from one of her closest friends, Mayte, who is in Calella de Palafrugell spending some days.

Calella de Palafrugell is one of three coastal towns belonging to the municipality of Palafrugell, province of Girona, the other two being Llafranc and Tamariu.

It is part of the Costa Brava, the coastal region of northeastern Catalonia, in the comarca of Baix Empordà.

Calella de Palafrugell is a small holiday resort and fishing village near Palafrugell and a short distance along the coast from Llafranc.

Calella de Palafrugell has an excellent setting and, whilst busy in the summer season, it does not have the large hotels and mass tourism of other Costa Brava resorts such as Lloret de Mar. The coastline of the town stretches some two kilometres south to the El Golfet beach -part of the Cap Roig headland where beautiful Botanical gardens are located.

The town has a number of good standard hotels, apartments and, at a distance from the beach, some campsites. Like much of the picturesque section of the Costa Brava, north of Palamos and south of L'Estartit, Calella has moved steadily upmarket in recent times and offers some very high quality restaurants and hotels -at prices to match. The beaches are Blue Flag standard.

Calella de Palafrugell has a number of beautiful small coves linked to Llafranc via a coastal walk. The first of the beaches at Calella de Palafrugell is Canadell where you have the Tragamar restaurant on the beach which is open during the summer season.

Port Bo is a small sandy cove located just south of central Calella de Palafrugell.

Les Voltes is a beach where you have a small promenade set back from the beach with several restaurants and beach shop.

Platja Sota Can Calau is the next one along and after that Port Pelegri, Sant Roc and El Golfet which is approximately 1.5 km from central Calella de Palafrugell.

Calella de Palafrugell is a very popular destination dominated by apartments blocks set just back enough not to be seen from the beach. There are only a small number of hotels in this area.

More information: Visit Palafrugell

The sea, once it casts its spell,
holds one in its net of wonder forever

Jacques Yves Cousteau

VISITING MAYTE IN SANT FELIU DE GUÍXOLS, L'EMPORDÀ

Mayte in Sant Feliu de Guíxols, Baix Empordà

Today, The Grandma has gone to Sant Feliu de Guíxols, a beautiful coastal town near Girona. She has visited Mayte, a friend of her.

Mayte is an excellent photographer and she and The Grandma have visited the most enchanted places of this unforgettable town and they have taken incredible photos that they want to share with the rest of their friends.

Sant Feliu de Guíxols is a municipality in the comarca of the Baix Empordà in Catalonia. It is situated on the Costa Brava and is an important port and tourist centre. The district abuts to the north, the upmarket s'Agaró resort built round the Sant Pol Beach. In addition to tourism and the port the cork industry is a traditionally local industry.

The town contains a large monastery which now houses the town museum and is a protected historico-artistic monument.

Located on the Mediterranean, Sant Feliu de Guíxols has idylic weather almost all year long. The coastline of Sant Feliu de Guíxols spreads over ten kilometres. It also includes many little bays with coves surrounded by pines with rocky or fine sand beaches. The beaches are cleaned daily and a modern water treatment system prevents wastewater from entering the sea. The town is engulfed by small mountains, with forests of pine, oak, and cork trees.

More information: Sant Feliu de Guíxols

The name Sant Feliu goes back to the martyred saint, Felix of Girona (d. August 31, 304), who came from Carthage in North Africa. Guíxols is a word derived from the former word iecsalis from a tenth-century document that mentions the monastery and seems to mean rope-maker.

The Original Nucleus of the Town A township started to grow up on the basis of the various activities surrounding the Monestir de Sant Feliu de Guíxols. The settlement grew, and soon dwellings started to spring up on the other side of the watercourse, which would become the nucleus of the medieval town, centered on the market.

Monestir de Sant Feliu de Guíxols is a Benedictine monastery. It was first referenced around the year 961, and was declared a Bé d'Interès Cultural landmark in 1931.

The Romanesque building is an excellent example of the town's medieval architecture and has been remodeled several times.

The Grandma visits Sant Feliu de Guíxols Monastery

It includes the Porta Ferrada, the symbol of the town, as well as two towers. It houses a history museum. On the basis of available records, the foundation of the Benedictine monastery can be traced back to the first half of the 10th century. 

The bay of Guíxols was chosen due to its good natural harbour and the proximity to the coast of the nearby range of hills, which would make it easier to flee and would give a certain degree of protection in cases of attack from the sea. The decision was no doubt also influenced by the martyrdom of Saint Felix of Africa and the opportunity to take advantage of existing buildings dating from the Roman period.

The monastery's role was to control the agricultural exploitation and production of the surrounding region, and also to provide protection to its inhabitants in return. It was thus a fortified coastal monastery exercising its feudal dominion over the territory. At its foundation, the monastery was dedicated to Saint Felix and the name of Sant Feliu, in its Catalan form, was thereafter forever associated with that of Guíxols, thus giving the present-day name of the town, used from the 10th century onwards.

More information: Visit Guíxols

Plaça del Mercat. The market place serves as the heart of public and economic life in the town. A fruit and vegetable market takes place every morning on the Plaça. On Sundays, the weekly market takes place along the Passeig -great avenue- and on the Plaça, a popular meeting place for residents.

Passeig dels Guíxols. The boulevard of Sant Feliu de Guíxols is unique, and is a wide sandy walkway lined with trees; ideal for a relaxing stroll.

Passeig del Mar. Opened in 1833, the seafront promenade was built between the medieval town and the sea. Little by little, the humble homes of fishermen from the medieval era were replaced by stately homes. Today, the area's architecture is mostly modern; because of real estate, many of the mansions are gone and condominiums have replaced them. Nonetheless, it makes for a lovely walk along the town's beach.

Casino la Constància, constructed in 1888 by the architect General Guitart. It is also known as casino dels nois.

Pedralta, which used to be the largest rocking stone in Europe.

The Grandma visits Mayte in Sant Feliu de Guíxols

Old railway station, designed by architects Rafael Coderch and Gabriel March and built between 1889 and 1892, which served the line from Sant Feliu de Guíxols to Girona. It was used until 1969, and now serves as a public school. It is seen as a reminder of the town's progressive era.

Historic residences. From the mid- to late-19th century, Catalonia began to prosper economically and developed a bourgeoisie class. Sant Feliu de Guíxols has many examples of the elegant, bourgeoisie homes of this time period. Some examples are the casa Gaziel (1880), the casa Pecher (1894), the casa Maynegre (1898), the casa Girbau (1910), the casa Maruny (1909), the casa Ribot (1904), the casa de la Campana (1911), and the casa Patxot (1917).

The town hall, somewhat Gothic in style, yet simple, was originally built in 1547. It has survived battles and real estate. However, today it has a tower added on from 1847.

More information: The Intrepid Guide

Hermitage of Sant Elm. This small hermitage was founded in 1203. The chapel was built in 1452, and dedicated to Saint Elm; however, it was destroyed by the French in 1696. It was rebuilt in 1723, only to be damaged in 1943, during the Spanish Civil War; the present chapel was restored in 1993. It sits on a cliff above the sea.

Sant Feliu de Guíxols is located in an area known for its parties, festivals and especially its carnivals. It has one of the best carnivals in the Costa Brava, as do the towns Platja d'Aro and Palamós.

The Porta Ferrada International Festival, instituted in 1958, is celebrated in the town's port area, and has become internationally popular with time. It involves theatre, music, and dance, and is usually celebrated in the summer.

The Festa Major is a traditional, Catalan festival, celebrated on 1 August. It is dedicated to the town's patron saint, Sant Feliu, and includes a large fireworks display that takes place on the beach.

More information: Festival Porta Ferrada

That the sea is one of the most beautiful and magnificent

sights in Nature, all admit.

John Joly