Spain’s Costa Brava: Land of Dali

Story and photography by
Nancy & Eric Anderson 

 

Spain’s Costa Brava (literally the “Wild Coast”) hides itself in the North East corner of the country well beyond Barcelona and extends to the very border of France. The Tourist Office of Spain needn’t worry that visitors to Spain might think of hopping over the border to France. No way! There’s just too much to see in Costa Brava.

American tourists not too familiar with this part of Spain will be thrilled to find great places to drive including the magnificent coastline with its deep cliffs and fascinating inlets. But those who want to take time to savor this gracious place will be equally pleased to find little fishing villages like Palamos, complete with both a 16th century Gothic church and a modern fishing museum dedicated to those who brave the dangers of the sea. Another place, Tossa de Mar, goes one better with a 12th century walled city, a 14th century Gothic governor’s palace and the ancient hospital of Sant Miguel, founded in 1773. The donations for this charity hospital came from an emigrant, Tomas Vidal i Rey, who became wealthy and successful in America. But who knows today how successful the hospital was? The plaque on its ancient wall has a cross -- and a skull and cross bones!

Around the corner is the modernistic Hotel Diana, created from a Gaudi-inspired delightful private residence. Costs in 2007 on the Costa Brava were reasonable compared to other European locations, a double room in this hotel, for example, runs from 66 € to 137 € depending on the season. Those prices are not atypical, restaurant charges were equally affordable. Car rentals, however, are higher than in USA:, a 7-day rental of a compact Citroen C5 cost 370 €, about $475. (1 € is about $1.3). The dollar is collapsing against the Euro and prices all over the continent have increased.

Girona, the medieval-walled capital of the Costa Brava is another of those great Spanish walking cities. Situated on the banks of the river Onyan with its brightly-painted townhouses Girona offers more than 2000 years of history. It has an impressive 11th to 18th century cathedral with the widest Gothic nave in the world, an ancient monastery and other churches with spectacular Roman, Paleochristian, Romanesque and Baroque sepulchers. Girona has one of the largest and best conserved antique Jewish quarters in Europe; its Museum of the History of the Jews, situated on the site of a 15th century synagogue, has a collection of incredibly preserved Hebrew tombstones. Within the city other museums display 12th century tapestries, Renaissance art and prehistoric archaeological collections; Girona even has a museum dedicated to the earliest days of the movies.

But for many the main pleasure in Costa Brava is driving the Dali Triangle.

Salvador Dali, Spain’s mercurial, controversial but beloved artist, lived way up top right on the map in the remote village of Portlligat near Cadaqués. It was his workshop and home from 1930 to 1982 http://www.salvador-dali.org/en_index.html. When Gala, his wife and muse, died he moved to the Gothic-Renaissance castle in Pubol he’d bought in 1970. Gala is buried in a crypt in the basement alongside one Dali designed for himself with space under the crypts so they could hold hands in eternity. During the two years Dali spent there he designed his final great adventure, his Theatre-Museum in Figueres, near Girona in a restored 19th  century theater that burned down in the Civil War. It’s the third leg of the triangle and has most of Dali’s work and personality. The exhibits in all three locations defy description: golden thrones, stuffed animals, elephant statues, weird sculptures like Our Lord of the Refuse, odd-ball fixations such as Mae West’s lips which become sofas, dissected bones, large eggs on rooftops, ceramic loaves of bread, and dozens of large reproductions of the Oscar Academy Award statue. And on display Dali quotes such as “I believe a man has as much right to be insane as he has to be sane.” It’s all there in its bizarre exuberance and, if you’re in the mood, it’s glorious.