Palafrugell

Palafrugell
Municipality

Flag
Coat of arms
Palafrugell
Location in Catalonia
Palafrugell
Palafrugell (Spain)
Coordinates: 41°55′9″N 3°9′55″E / 41.91917°N 3.16528°E / 41.91917; 3.16528
Country  Spain
Community  Catalonia
Province Girona
Comarca Baix Empordà
Government
 • Mayor Julio Fernandez Iruela (2015)[1]
Area[2]
 • Total 26.9 km2 (10.4 sq mi)
Elevation 64 m (210 ft)
Population (2014)[1]
 • Total 22,763
 • Density 850/km2 (2,200/sq mi)
Demonym(s) Palafrugellenc
Website palafrugell.cat

Palafrugell (Catalan pronunciation: [pələfɾuˈʒeʎ]) is a municipality in the Mediterranean Costa Brava, located near Palamós in the comarca of Baix Empordà, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. With 22,365 inhabitants it is the largest city of its comarca. Several coastal and interior towns (Llafranc, Calella de Palafrugell, Tamariu and Llofriu) belong to this city.

The combination of a good summer climate and beautiful beaches has been exploited for both domestic and international tourism. Tourists have come from a wide range of countries, especially the Netherlands, England, France, and more recently, the United States. It also serves as a summer holiday town for residents of cities such as Barcelona and Girona.

This medieval town was once fortified but is no longer. Many narrow streets emanate from Plaça Nova -a large square with bars, restaurants and boutiques. The local government (Ajuntament) sponsors activities such as concerts and dances including the traditional Sardana. St. Martí's church was built in the late 11th century and is close to Plaça Nova.

There is a new bus station belonging to Grup SARBUS whose local division is known as Sarfa. The station has a regular bus service, servicing the Costa Brava region (including Llafranc, Calella de Palafrugell, and Tamariu) as well as Barcelona.

Palafrugell was reputed for its cork manufacturing in the 18th and 19th centuries. The largest factory was owned by the American company Armstrong and employed hundreds of locals. Its closing in the 1970s led to severe unemployment. The factory's tower still stands, and there is now a small museum commemorating the cork industry just below it.

See also

  • Josep Costa Sobrepera
  • Centre Fraternal
  • The Cork Museum: It centres on the history, heritage and the lands linked to the Catalan cork industry. The first museum echibit is building itself, which is a factory in a Moderniste (Catalan Art Nouveau) design. The building comprises numerous exhibition areas, around a small cork oak tree.
  • The Josep Pla Foundation: It's a literary heritage centre chich aims to promote the reading and study of the literary and journalistic work of the Palafrugell author.
  • The Cuixart Foundation: It aims to support established or emerging art and artists, with the view to protecting artistic heritage and the works of future generations.
  • Can Mario Museum: It's the Contemporary Sculpture Museum of the Vila Casas Foundation which was inaugurated in 2004. It houses some 300 sculptures that date from the 1960s to the present day, and which belong to various artists who were either bron or who are residents in Catalonia.
  • The Gastronomy Interpretation Centre: It encourages its visitors to discover the development of gastronomy over the years, with the evolution of tourism at the Empordanet by means of two audivosiual displays. Information on culinary campaigns, receipes, markets and more is available on touch screens, not to mention descriptions of the region's main culinary productes. The centre is open at the same times as the tourist office.[3]
  • The Sa Perola Interpretation Centre: The net dyeing house of the Fishermen's Guild of Sant Pere is today a tourist office and an interpretation centre for the Fishermen's Guild of Calella and the seafaring heritage of the area. Sa Perola is a testimony to the past of the town of Calella de Palafrugelland is of noteworthy interest in ethnological, social and cultural terms. Its relevance reaches beyond the municipality of Palafrugell, due to the destruction of mostof the net-dying houses on the Catalan Coast. The centre is open at the same times as the tourist office.
  • The Historical Site of Sant Sebastià de la Guarda: This monument is located in town of Llafranc (Baix Emporda region). The site consists of an Iberian archeological site from the 6th-1st centuries B.C., a 15th-century watchtower and a 19th-century lighthouse on top of a small mountain 156m above the sea (to protect and defend the region from pirate attacks, and which still retains many of its original features)

References

  1. 1 2 "Ajuntament de Palafrugell". Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
  2. ↑ "El municipi en xifres: Palafrugell". Statistical Institute of Catalonia. Retrieved 2015-11-23.
  3. ↑ Consell Comarcal del Baix Empordà (2016). "Museums and collections of the Baix Empordà region" (PDF).
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