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SUN AND SEA THE SPANISH WAY The colourful Catalan town of Sitges is built on a culture of creativity, with a Mediterranean mindset and an enviable 300 days of sunshine a year.

STORY STEVE JOHN POWELL GETTY IMAGES PHOTOGRAPHY

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hermitage by the sea, where all home and workshop. He held his legendary Moderniste the pilgrims of the arts can go festivals here, attracting the leading Catalan artists, to take the waters of poetry and writers, musicians and sculptors of the day. Sitges’ cure themselves of the hubbub reputation as a haven for artists and intellectuals SITGES HAS EVOLVED of the city.” spread like wildfire. Even now, Cau Ferrat is still “AThat’s what Spanish artist and writer Santiago referred to as the Temple of Modernisme. It was INTO ONE OF SPAIN’S Rusiñol, pioneer of the Catalan art nouveau the dawn of Sitges’ so-called “Golden Age”. movement known as Modernisme, dreamed of At the bequest of Rusiñol himself, Cau MOST ELEGANT creating in the town of Sitges, Catalonia. He could Ferrat, now a museum open to the public, scarcely have imagined the lasting impact his has been left exactly as it was in the RESORTS. SOME CALL IT dream would have. painter’s day. It still retains the authentic Upon arriving in Sitges in 1891, Rusiñol feel of an artist’s home studio. From the SPAIN’S SAINT-TROPEZ. had fallen in love with the town’s vibrant moment you walk into the ground floor Mediterranean air and its twisty streets sloping kitchen-salon, it’s a treasure trove from OTHERS SAY IT’S THE down to the water’s edge. The town’s idyllic top to bottom. The walls (painted deep location also proved irresistible, for Sitges lies blue to ward off mosquitoes) are crammed CANNES OF CATALONIA tucked between the sea and the mountains of with paintings and other artworks by the Garraf Massif. It’s a position that blesses the Rusiñol and fellow artists of his circle, town with a microclimate of 300 days of sunshine including four drawings by a teenage Pablo a year – all a mere forty kilometres southwest of Picasso. Rusiñol’s hometown, Barcelona. Sitges’ artistic standing received a The origins of Sitges date back to Neolithic further boost in 1909 when American times. Some 3,000 years ago, Greek sailors spoke of industrialist and art lover Charles Deering the Iberian town of Blanca Subur, where present-day arrived in the town to meet his friend Ramon Sitges now stands. But when Rusiñol stumbled upon Casas, another prominent Moderniste painter the town, it was a humble village with a population and close friend of Rusiñol. As soon as he saw mostly devoted to fishing and winemaking. Rusiñol’s house, Deering wanted to buy it. Rusiñol Nevertheless, Sitges has evolved into one of Spain’s flatly refused, and there always remained a certain most elegant resorts. Some call it Spain’s Saint-Tropez. rivalry between the two. Both were avid art collectors Others say it’s the Cannes of Catalonia, because and were equally captivated by Cau Ferrat’s gorgeous of the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival seafront setting. of Catalonia, held in October every year: Quentin Like Rusiñol, Deering had a dream of creating an Tarantino, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster and art centre in Spain, and to this end he bought not only 01 Daniel Radcliffe have all walked Sitges’ cobbled streets. the house next to Rusiñol’s, but also the hospital next Splendid 19th century Moderniste houses abound, door, after proposing to the local town hall that he’d 03 giving the old town the air of an outdoor museum of build them another one. Deering had the buildings architecture. The town’s most emblematic building is 02 04 the 17th-century seafront church of Sant Bartomeu These properties range from colonial-style 1930s 01-02 and Santa Tecla, rising out of the rocks on the seashore. villas in the classy Terramar district, just 50 metres Contemporary And, behind the church, in the labyrinth of steep from the beach, to fabulous contemporary houses homes are in increasingly high little streets, Rusiñol’s artistic spirit lives on in the with stunning sea views just outside town, and rustic demand. independent art galleries and antique shops that rub stone-walled masia farmhouses, fully renovated, in 03 1930's shoulders with designer boutiques and shady cafes. the surrounding countryside. All of these properties colonial style Thanks to this heady cocktail of climate, culture typically come with their own swimming pool and villa are popular holiday homes. and location, in recent years Sitges has also become gardens. something of a luxury property hotspot. Lucas Fox 04 This renovated International Properties saw their sales in Sitges A RISE TO ACCLAIM 'masia' increase by a whopping 175 per cent in the first half So how did Sitges’ extraordinary metamorphosis come farmhouses of 2017, year-on-year. “Just under a fifth of buyers (18 about? outside Sitges is an example per cent) were Spanish and 27 per cent came from Back in the 1890s, Rusiñol, pursuing his dream of historic luxury the UK,” says Rachel Haslam, Lucas Fox’s Sitges establishing an artists’ hermitage, bought two adjacent homes that are getting attention director. “Just over half (54 per cent) of Sitges buyers fishermen’s cottages on the seafront near the church, from holiday purchased a home as a second residence.” and set about converting them into Cau Ferrat, his home buyers. LUCAS FOX INTERNATIONAL PROPERTIES INTERNATIONAL FOX LUCAS COURTESY

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THE MUSEU MARICEL HAS RECENTLY BEEN REFURBISHED, RESTOCKED AND REOPENED, WITH A SUPERB COLLECTION OF WORKS RANGING FROM 10TH CENTURY ROMANESQUE AND GOTHIC

Thankfully, the story has a happy ending. The Museu Maricel has recently been refurbished, restocked and reopened, with a superb collection of works ranging from 10th century Romanesque and Gothic, passing through Renaissance and Baroque, up to Moderniste, Luminista and Noucentista. The two Maricel buildings – the Palau and the Museu – together with Rusiñol’s Cau Ferrat and the charming Sant Bartomeu church make up the Racó de la Calma (Peaceful Corner), Sitges’ most famous beauty spot. But the Racó de la Calma is just one of many architectural marvels in Sitges. The late 19th century was a period when hundreds of young men made the perilous journey across the sea to Spain’s colonies in the New World, especially Cuba. Some were looking to expand their businesses. Others were fleeing the poverty brought about by 1879’s disastrous plague of phylloxera, a parasite that devastated half a million acres of the region’s vineyards. Merchants were 05 ruined, workers made jobless. In 1862 Sitges’ most famous son, Facundo Bacardí, 05 View of San converted into what is now the Museu Maricel 06 07 typified the entrepreneurial spirit when he sailed Bartolome church from (Maricel Museum), home to a diverse collection of to Cuba and founded a distillery. Rum was simply the shores of over 3,000 works. a fiery local grog, until Bacardí’s take on the spirit Fragata Beach. Deering then bought up the fishermen’s houses transformed it into the world-famous tipple it is today. 06 Palau de on the other side of the street and turned them into Other emigrants made a living trading everything Maricel. the Palau de Maricel (Maricel Palace), now also a from textiles to guano – a fertiliser made from the 07 Museu museum. Deering scoured Spain for priceless art excrement of seabirds. Maricel. treasures, and brought them back to his Museu Sitges soon became an important trade port. At Maricel, including priceless works by El Greco, one stage, 27 per cent of Catalans trading with the Zurbarán and Goya, as well as Assyrian seals and Americas were from Sitges. Far from all succeeded in Chinese bronzes. finding their fortune, but a handful made it rich and But one day in 1921, for reasons that will likely later returned home. The extraordinary impact they remain a mystery forever, Deering abandoned Sitges, had on their hometowns can still be felt today. taking his entire art collection with him. Most of it They were dubbed Indianos, or Americanos: now stands in the Art Institute of Chicago. nouveaux riches who came back to Spain and GETTY IMAGES PHOTOGRAPHY

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celebrated their newfound wealth 08 International by building lavish mansions in a Vinatge Car Rally at melange of styles inspired by the Fragata Beach. architectural fashions of the day, 09 Statue of Santiago often adorned with colonial Rusiñol and painter Ramon Casas. elements such as palm trees, from the Caribbean paradise 10 La Casa del Reloj they’d left behind. “If you 11 Hotel Noucentista see an old house with a palm tree in the garden, you can be sure it’s an Indiano house!” explains local wine producer Juame Pujol. Over sixty Indiano villas are still standing in Sitges; most notably in the erstwhile Indiano neighbourhood near 11 Sitges train station, centred around the aptly named Carrer Illa de Cuba (Island of Cuba Street). preserved cinema. Rusiñol held his Moderniste Many of the houses have now been parties here, too. Today, the non-profit cinema is one turned into bars, hotels and restaurants. of the prime venues for the Fantastic Film Festival. Step inside, sip a glass of cava in a shady But Sitges isn’t just about history. Today’s courtyard and feast on the extraordinary visitors are also attracted by its seventeen beaches, wealth of detail: the hexagonal watchtower and vibrant nightlife, golf course, first-class hotels, and black and white-tiled spire of Hotel El Xalet, with international, gay-friendly atmosphere. Every month its mulberry-shaded garden; the voluptuous bay brings a different exciting fiesta: a lavish carnival windows of the Hotel Noucentista; the honeysuckle- that rivals Rio, a vintage car rally and the spectacular scented patio of the Hotel Romantic. Corpus de Sitges, when the streets of the old town are The most eye-catching Moderniste house of all carpeted with exquisite tapestries made entirely from is the fantastical Casa del Reloj (House of the Clock). flower petals. Lying in the Plaza Cap de la Vila in the middle of And let’s not forget that Sitges lies in the Penedés downtown Sitges, its minaret-like spire and stunning wine region. Hop in the car, and in just a few minutes clock tower make it a Moderniste masterpiece. you can be exploring the vineyards of the hinterland, Meanwhile, in nearby Francesc Gumà Street, renowned for its cava, the world-famous sparkling you’ll see the grandly named Casino Prado Suburense wine that is Catalonia’s champagne. Just beyond the cultural and recreation society, founded in 1877. The vineyards lie the thyme-scented, karstic hills of the palatial building with Roman-style murals on the Garraf Natural Park, dotted with the occasional masia outside is impossible to miss. Inside you’ll find a shady farmhouse, and even a Buddhist monastery. bar, a very affordable restaurant and a beautifully And, for those interested in staying here a bit longer, Sitges’ economic future also looks bright. “In recent years Sitges has gained a major foothold as a key prime property investment area,” says Lucas Fox’s HOP IN THE CAR, AND IN Rachel Haslam. “Prices have increased over recent years but are still significantly behind the peak of 2007. JUST A FEW MINUTES Where property prices in Barcelona are fast catching up with those of 10 years ago, here the pace is slower, YOU CAN BE EXPLORING offering good opportunities for investors who want to see healthy returns.” THE VINEYARDS OF THE Whatever brings you to Sitges, you’ll find that, nearly 130 years after Rusiñol had his dream, this HINTERLAND seaside hermitage still has the power to cure you of those big city blues. ANGELES MARIN CABELLO PHOTOGRAPHY 09 10

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