Sitges
is just half an hour's drive from Barcelona's El Prat airport, a
major international hub for dozens of airlines. The location and its
hotels & rental properties packed into its 600km2
makes Sitges the St Tropez of Spain, with prices considerably higher
than other Costa Brava resorts. If you want a quiet, relaxing
holiday, this is certainly not the resort!.
Pretty & quiet during the day, with several interesting
cultural points of interest, at night it is a hedonistic playground
of loud bars and discos and becomes a major gay centre of Spain.
History
Sitges has been inhabited since the 1st century BC as
two separate settlements. These were later combined and expanded by
the Romans.
During the 13th century the town was owned by the Sitges family and
in the early 19th century Facundo Bacardí, the founder of the
Bacardi rum brand, was born in Sitges before emigrating to Cuba to
set up his Bacardi empire
Sitges boomed as a tourist resort in the early 20th century but
fell into decline under Franco's dictatorship. It re-emerged as the
resort of today from the 1960's.
Festivals,
Carnivals & Events in Sitges
 Early
to mid-February sees the start of Sitges main festival - the
Carnival or ''Carnestoltes''. Sitges is even livelier than usual
through to 'The Burial of the Sardine'' on Ash Wednesday. The
carnival parade, the Debauchery Parade or ''Rua de la Disbauxa'',
takes place on the final Sunday. Over 40 floats and 2,000
participants make this a most memorable occasion.
Other major festivals are:
January: A procession of colourful floats
accompanied by bands and drummers in medieval costumes. (Passeig de
la Ribera)
March: Barcelona to Sitges Vintage Car Rally. A
favourite annual event.
April: Sant Jordi, Books and Roses festival.
Son-in-laws traditionally give their Mother-in-laws a rose and
receive a book in return
June: (Corpus Christ) Having spent the previous
evening & night collecting petals from local flowers, groups of
neighbours arrange them on the streets to make beautiful, intricate
patterns. A must-see!
August: International open-air music festival
is held around the town
Late August: Fiesta Mayor castellers, dance,
music, parades and much more. Superb firework display from the
church walls
mid-September: To celebrate the grape harvest -
wine-treading and more than a little of previous years' produce!
Late September: A mini-Fiesta Mayor set around
the Church of Santa Tecla
These are only the major events. Go to the Sitges
Tourist Information Office for more! |
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Places
to visit
Sitges does not have dozens of interesting places to visit but with
Barcelona just 40 minute drive away, there is ample there. Most
visitors come to Sitges for it's beaches and atmosphere, but the
following are worth a visit:
Cau Ferrat Museum- The house and studio of Santiago Rusiñol,
artist and writer, a leading figure of Catalan Modernisme.
Sant Bartolomeu i Santa Tecla (17th century church)-
housing two Gothic sepulchres from the 14th century
belonging to the an older church located on the same site. Contains
paintings of Pere Pruna. The high altar has a Renaissance retablo.
Can Llopis Museu Romàntic- demonstrating the life-style of a
family of Catalan householders during the years of Romanticism.
Palau Maricel- built by the Charles Deering to house his major
private collection, mostly devoted to medieval art.
Passeig de la Ribera- A gathering place for both residents and
local, this long boulevard follows the coastline and has countless
bars & restaurants. With hills and Old Sitges on one side and
the Mediterranean on the other, the Passeig de la Ribera has a
backdrop of fine buildings and the mountains. A wonderful place to
stroll, day, night or evening.
Sitges' Beaches
There are 17 separate beaches in Sitges. In alphabetical order the
main ones are:
Platja d’Aiguadolç- most easterly
beach, clothed & nudists.
Platja de les Anquines- most westerly beach.
Small, peaceful cove.
Platja dels Balmains- mostly nudist.
Platja de la Barra – cove, popular with
all groups.
Platja de l’Estanyol - long and busy
beach, for all groups.
Platja de la Fragata - for families with
volleyball nets & pedaloes
Platja de la Ribera – large, busy beaches
for all groups.
Platja de la Riera Xica – long &
narrow
Platja de la Rodona – busy, thin strip of
sand: gay beach.
Platja Sant Sebastiá – beach for
all groups.
Platja de Terramar – quiet beach for all
groups.
Further
information:
Sitges Tourist Information Office -
sitgestur.cat
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