Catalonia

Catalonia & Costa Brava

Catalonia is a country of contrasts, changing landscapes and potent colours and flavours, at the same time exposed to the sea and sheltered by the mountains. It’s a great country to discover: from the highest peaks of the Pyrenees, at more than 3,000 metres, to hard-to-find coves of the Mediterranean, Catalonia offers many ideal settings to practice active tourism like ski mountaineering, extreme sports, equestrian tourism, bicycle touring, hiking, water sports and golf. The primary tourist destinations in Catalonia are the city of Barcelona and the Costa Brava and Costa Daurada beaches, as well as the Pyrenees, with 10 ski resorts. The natural treasures, the good transportation links, the Mediterranean climate and the quality of its additional attractions make this country an ideal place to visit and to live.

Active tourism can also be conducted and enjoyed as a business. Catalonia’s geographic location has favoured, since Medieval times, a close relationship with other countries of the Mediterranean and with continental Europe. Far and wide, Catalans are known to be good merchants, and one of the most dynamic sectors of the Catalan economy is trade, as evidenced by the fairs, shopping centres and shopping streets that seem to be everywhere.

Catalonia is stimulating and suggestive, but it is also distinguished by its cultural heritage: from the great civilisations of the past to the architecture of today; from modernism to the geniuses of 20th century painting; from classical music to the latest electronic trends.

Catalonia has given to the world of painting great painters such as Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró or Antoni Tàpies. The Malaga native Pablo Picasso, who in his youth lived in Barcelona, where he was trained as an artist and began the cubist movement, had a close relationship with the Catalan pictorial environment. The legacy of these and other artists can be seen in the most important museums of Catalonia: the Dalí Theatre-Museum (Figueres), the Picasso Museum in Barcelona, the Antoni Tàpies Foundation, the Joan Miró Foundation, the National Art Museum of Catalonia (MNAC), the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona (MACBA) and the Barcelona Centre of Contemporary Culture (CCCB).

One of the most cherished jewels of Catalonia is the heritage left by modernist architecture, converted in the national art. Antoni Gaudí was the greatest exponent of this art, which began at the end of the 19th century, and the artist behind buildings known around the world such as the Sagrada Família, the Casa Batlló, the Pedrera and the Parc Güell, among others, very beautiful constructions located in Barcelona. The architects Lluís Domènech i Montaner, Josep Puig i Cadafalch and Rafel Masó also left modernist footprints in various Catalan cities.

Music is one of the most dynamic of the Catalan cultural industries, as seen by the number of musical activities and events (especially in summer, when the programme of festivals of every known musical genre is endless) the network of musical sites, and the producers, composers, singers and groups of different styles who were born in Catalonia.

Without a doubt, one of the places where this country stands out is in restaurant guides. El Bulli of Ferran Adrià in Roses, El Celler de Can Roca in Girona or the Sant Pau of Carme Ruscalleda in Sant Pol de Mar, considered by some to be the best restaurants in the world, are all in Catalonia, which has thousands of other places of culinary quality. Local products have played a crucial role in Catalonia reaching the gastronomic avant-garde: Catalan agriculture produces a rich variety of fruits and vegetables and many of these products have been recognised with quality designations of origin, and animal husbandry and fishing are very active sectors that provide many different products to Catalan kitchens.

There can be no good cooking without good wine. The wine culture is also very traditional in Catalonia, which has 11 different designations of origin among which El Priorat (the only qualified designation of origin –DOQ– of the country), Penedès (the oldest) or D.O. Empordà stand out. The Catalan climate and land are very suitable for grape vines, which is why local wines are recognised around the world.

Further information:
www.costabrava.org
www.gencat.cat

**Images by Arxiu d’Imatges del PTCBG and Catalonia Tourism Dept.