Cadaqués (; ) is a town in the

Alt Empordà Alt Empordà (; ; "Upper Empordà") is a Comarques of Catalonia, comarca (county) located in the Comarques Gironines, Girona region, in Catalonia, Spain. It is one of two comarques into which Empordà was divided by the comarca division of Catalo ...

comarca A ''comarca'' (, , , ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain, and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, mark ...

'', in the

province of Girona The Province of Girona ( ; ) is a Provinces of Spain, province in the northeastern part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. It is bordered on the northwest by the province of Lleida, on the southwest ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It is on a bay in the middle of the

Cap de Creus The Cap de Creus (Cabo de Creus in Spanish) is a peninsula and a headland located at the far northeast of Catalonia, some south from the French border. The cape lies in the municipal area of Cadaqués, and the nearest large town is Figuere ...

peninsula, near Cap de Creus cape, on the

Costa Brava The Costa Brava (; ; "Wild Coast" or "Rough Coast") is a coastal region of Catalonia in northeastern Spain. Sources differ on the exact definition of the Costa Brava. Usually it can be regarded as stretching from the town of Blanes, northeas ...

of the Mediterranean. It is a two-and-a-quarter-hour drive from

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, and thus it is accessible not only to tourists but also to people who want a second home for weekends and summers. In 2018, Cadaqués had an official population of 2,752, but up to ten times as many people can live in the town during the peak of the summer tourism season. Cadaqués has a special place in art history. Commanding

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

s, by local artist

Eliseu Meifrèn Eliseo Meifrèn i Roig (24 December 1857/59, Barcelona – 5 February 1940, Barcelona) was a Spanish Impressionist painter. Biography Following his passion for art, he gave up the study of medicine and enrolled at the Escola de la Llotja,< ...

, of the 19th century Cadaqués beleaguered by a winter

tramontane Tramontane ( ) is a classical name for a northern wind. The exact form of the name and precise direction varies from country to country. The word came to English from Italian , which developed from Latin ( + ), "beyond/across the mountains", r ...

, can be seen at the Cadaqués museum. Fren was the first modern artist to live in Cadaqués and gave the town many of his works and a marble top table on which he sketched many of its turn-of-the-century fishermen.

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...

often visited Cadaqués in his childhood, and later kept a home in

Port Lligat Portlligat is a small village located in a small bay on Cap de Creus peninsula, on the Costa Brava of the Mediterranean Sea, in the municipality of Cadaqués in the Alt Empordà comarca, in Catalonia, Spain. The island of Portlligat is located a ...

, a small village on a bay next to the town. A summer holiday here in 1916, spent with the family of Ramon Pichot is seen as especially important to Dalí's artistic career. Other notable artists, including

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

Joan Miró Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , ; ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan Spanish painter, sculptor and Ceramic art, ceramist. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona ...

Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, ; ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, Futurism and conceptual art. He is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Pica ...

, Richard Hamilton, Albert Ràfols-Casamada,

Antoni Pitxot Antoni Pitxot (; Figueres, Girona, January 5, 1934 – June 12, 2015) was a Spanish Catalan painter and a longtime friend and collaborator of Salvador Dalí. Pitxot was born into a family with many artists in its ranks, among them, his uncle ...

, Henri-François Rey,

Melina Mercouri Maria Amalia "Melina" Mercouri (, 18 October 1920 – 6 March 1994) was a Greek actress, singer, activist, and politician. She came from a prominent political family for multiple generations. She received an Academy Award nomination and won a F ...

and

Maurice Boitel Maurice Boitel (July 31, 1919 – August 11, 2007) was a French painter. Artistic life Boitel belonged to the art movement called "La Jeune Peinture" ("Young Picture") of the School of Paris,The School of Paris (1945–1965) by Lydia Harambourg. ...

also spent time here. Cadaqués is mentioned in the story " Tramontana" by

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian writer and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th centur ...

. The interesting submarine life of this sleepy fishing village was studied for several years by phycologist Françoise Ardré, long before Cadaqués was discovered and transformed into a

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

destination. On Mondays there is a travelling market in Cadaqués, located near the parking lot. This market has a wide variety of products. A

Jewish community Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

once existed in the medieval period, and the old Jewish quarter in Cadaqués can still be visited today.

Name

Cadaqués is a

phonetic spelling A phonemic orthography is an orthography (system for writing a language) in which the graphemes (written symbols) correspond consistently to the language's phonemes (the smallest units of speech that can differentiate words), or more generally ...

of the contraction of Catalan (Cape of Rocks). In medieval documents, both Cadaqués and Cadaquers spellings coexisted together.

History

Relationship with Cuba

Cadaques blue house 2008 08 reframed YAN02

In the early 20th century a large number of inhabitants of Cadaqués travelled or emigrated to

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

(the figure has been estimated as one third of a village of approximately 1200 people). Many of these immigrants were financially successful in Cuba and returned to Cadaqués where they constructed large and ornate houses. These houses can still be seen in the town (for example; the "Casa Blava", "Blue House" in English). A person returned from Cuba was referred to as an "Americano" among other names.

Traditions

Women of the village traditionally fetched water using a glazed earthenware jug called a "doll". The colour of the glazing was green. Similar earthenware can still be seen used as decorations. A number of photos exist showing women carrying these "dolls" on their heads (covered with a protective cloth). Owing to Cadaqués's proximity to the French border and its isolation by land, the village had a tradition of running contraband. See the writings of Josep Pla.

People

stayed during the summer of 1910, was also a guest of the family Pitxot *

* José Antonio Coderch (1913–1984) prominent post-war Barcelona-born architect *

played chess in the cafe "Meliton" with

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

amongst others. According to Richard Hamilton, Duchamp regarded the local fishermen as strong chess players. *

René Magritte René François Ghislain Magritte (; 21 November 1898 – 15 August 1967) was a Belgium, Belgian surrealist artist known for his depictions of familiar objects in unfamiliar, unexpected contexts, which often provoked questions about the nature ...

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

* Robert Venosa American visionary artist *

* Eugenio d'Ors Catalan writer, wrote the "Ben Plantada" (the "Good Looking Girl") *

Josep Pla Josep Pla i Casadevall (; 8 March 1897 – 23 April 1981) was a Spanish journalist and a popular author. As a journalist he worked in France, Italy, Britain, Germany, and the Soviet Union, from where he wrote political and cultural chronicles i ...

Catalan writer, wrote a number of books set in or about Cadaqués. see below *

built a house in Port lligat. Dalí's parents also had a house near the beach. * Genia Chef Russian artist. His ''Madonna de la Esparanza'' hangs in the town's baroque ''Iglesia de Santa Maria'' * Michael Lederer American author of the novel ''"Cadaqués"'' *

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27, a g ...

Spanish poet and dramatist *

André Breton André Robert Breton (; ; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') ...

French writer, poet, surrealist * David Martí Catalan artist and writer *

Niki de Saint Phalle Niki de Saint Phalle (; born Catherine Marie-Agnès Fal de Saint Phalle; 29 October 193021 May 2002) was a French sculptor, painter, filmmaker, and author of colorful hand-illustrated books. Widely noted as one of the few female monumental sculp ...

French artist, was invited or came to visit Marcel Duchamp *

Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American naturalized French visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism, Surrealist movements, ...

American artist, invited by Marcel Duchamp * Mary Callery sculptor *

Dieter Roth Dieter Roth (April 21, 1930 – June 5, 1998) was a Swiss artist who gained recognition for his diverse body of work, which included artist's books, editioned prints, sculpture, and creations from found materials, including rotting foodstuffs. ...

artist *

Marcel Broodthaers Marcel Broodthaers (28 January 1924 – 28 January 1976) was a Belgian poet, filmmaker, and visual artist. Early life Broodthaers was born on 28 January 1924 in Brussels, Belgium. Career Broodthaers was briefly associated with the surrealist ...

Richard Hamilton (artist) Richard William Hamilton (24 February 1922 – 13 September 2011) was an English painter and collage artist. His 1955 exhibition ''Man, Machine and Motion'' ( Hatton Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne) and his 1956 collage '' Just what is it that ...

English artist, invited by Marcel Duchamp *

composer, invited by Duchamp with whom he played chess *

Jean Tinguely Jean Tinguely (22 May 1925 – 30 August 1991) was a Swiss sculptor best known for his kinetic art sculptural machines (known officially as Métamatics) that extended the Dada tradition into the later part of the 20th century.Chilvers, Ian; Gl ...

collaborator with Niki de Saint-Phalle *

James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, three Golden Globes (winning once) and two ...

actor, filmed near Cadaqués *

Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), known in English as Pablo Casals,André Derain André Derain (, ; 10 June 1880 – 8 September 1954) was a French artist, painter, sculptor and co-founder of Fauvism with Henri Matisse. In 2025, all of Derain’s work entered the public domain in the United States. Life and career Early ...

painter, invited by the family Pitxot; painted the village in 1910 *

Raoul Pugno Stéphane Raoul Pugno (23 June 1852 – ) was a French composer, teacher, organist, and pianist known for his playing of Mozart's works. Biography Raoul Pugno was born in Paris and was of Italian origin. He made his debut at the age of six, and w ...

* Jacint Morera Catalan painter * Maria Martins Brazilian surrealist sculptrice *

Damien Rice Damien George Rice (born 7 December 1973) is an Irish musician, singer and songwriter. He began his career as a member of the 1990s rock group Juniper (band), Juniper, who were signed to Polygram Records in 1997. The band enjoyed moderate succe ...

* Jordi Pagans i Monsalvatje Catalan painter *

Terence Weil Terence Weil (9 December 1921 in London – 25 February 1995 in Figueras) was a British cellist, principal cellist of the English Chamber Orchestra, a founding member of the Melos Ensemble, a leading chamber musician and an influential teacher ...

cellist *

Luis Aznarez Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

Musician

Language

Even though people speak

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

the village of Cadaqués has its own variant or dialect of the

Catalan language Catalan () is a Western Romance languages, Western Romance language and is the official language of Andorra, and the official language of three autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous communities in eastern Spain: Catalonia, the Balearic I ...

. One of the most notable features is that the definite articles are different from standard Catalan, namely, they are "sa" (feminine) and "es" (masculine) instead of the normal Catalan definite articles "la" and "el". This feature is shared with the variant of Catalan spoken in the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

. The explanation for this (see "El Vocabulari de Cadaqués", Ernesta Sala i Bruses) is that when the Catalan ruler Jaume I conquered the Balearic Islands in the Middle Ages he re-colonized the islands with people from the Empordà region of Catalonia. Because Cadaqués has remained relatively isolated from the surrounding region (owing to its geography), the mediaeval speech patterns have been preserved. Another aspect of the speech variant of Cadaqués is the alteration of the first person singular of certain verbs: conjugations that normally end in "o" end in "i" in the Cadaqués variant. For example, "a vegades agafi molt per Cala Nans" (informant was an approximately 90-year-old fisherman). In standard Catalan this would be "a vegades agafo molt per Cala Nans" (meaning: sometimes I catch a lot at Cala Nans) The speech variant of Catalan has most similarities with the Catalan spoken in

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

(Balearic Islands). The Catalan variant of Cadaqués is referred to as "cadaquesenc" by the local people and also has many lexical items. Examples include: * ''rastell'': a street (normally with a steep slope) which is formed with pieces of slate stone placed in a vertical position. These types of streets are very characteristic of the streets of Cadaqués. * ''grop'': a black rain cloud * ''llagut'': a small boat * ''talaia'': an elevated castle or look-out which could warn the village of danger or transmit other signals (example: approaching ships) – compare with the "talaiots" of

Menorca Menorca or Minorca (from , later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Mallorca. Its capital is Maó, situated on the isl ...

. * ''xarxi'': a (fishing) net, as opposed to "xarxa" in standard Catalan * '' Norai'': a stone cylindrical building with a large stone on the top that fishermen used to attach their boats.

Tourism

Main sights

* Salvador Dalí House-Museum * Church of St. Mary (late-17th century) is the church that most stands out in the views of the town. * Hermitage of Sant Sebastià, a large house located high on Pení Mountain behind Cadaqués. It is a private residence not open to the public. The hermitage is surrounded by cork trees, and is built on a steep slope. * Natural Park of Cap de Creus and the lighthouse located at the most easterly point on the mainland of Spain and the Iberian peninsula. Cadaques shoreline

Hiking

The

GR 92 The GR 92 is part of the extensive GR footpath network of paths, tracks and trails in Spain. It will eventually run the length of the Mediterranean coast of Spain, from Portbou, on the border with France to Tarifa, the most southerly point of ...

long distance footpath, which roughly follows the length of the Mediterranean coast of Spain, has a staging point at Cadaqués. Stage 2 links northwards to

Llançà Llançà () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Alt Empordà in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the coastline of the Costa Brava, between the Cap de Creus and the French frontier and is an important fishing port and tourist centre. T ...

, a distance of , whilst stage 3 links southwards to

Roses, Girona Roses (; , ) is a municipality in the comarques of Catalonia, ''comarca'' of the Alt Empordà, located on the Costa Brava, Catalonia, Spain. Roses is the site of the former bishopric of Rotdon, now a Latin Catholic titular see. It is situated ...

, a distance of .

Geology

Cadaqués and the surrounding peninsula known as the

owes its beauty in part to its complex geology. The rocks here were pushed up when the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

were formed, and are mostly metamorphic schists which turn a golden colour in the Mediterranean sun. Add to that the weather: this is one of the wildest spots on the Costa Brava in the winter (Costa Brava means "wild coast"), so the migmatites and schists are battered and eroded by the Tramuntana wind which whips off the mountains and by a sea that appears as if it is boiling in the force 8 winds. The Cadaqués migmatites formed under extreme pressure and temperatures: a partial melt. They are halfway between an igneous and metamorphic rock. The area also contains a lot of schist: a medium grade metamorphic rock that has been flattened into sheets. White blocks of pegmatite mark where molten rock was squeezed through the older metamorphics at the end of the orogeny or mountain building. The geological history has been exposed by erosion from wind and sea, and many geologists have mapped the area for this reason.

Chinese replica

In 2010, a Chinese developer, China Merchants Zhangzhou, announced its intention to build a near-exact copy of Cadaqués on more than of land on

Xiamen Bay Xiamen Bay, formerly known as Amoy Bay, is a partially enclosed bay off the coast of Xiamen in China's Fujian Province. It is bound by the Kinmen Islands and the Taiwan Strait. Geography The bay is formed by down-faulted depressed block of u ...

in China. The replica village is projected to house some 15,000 Chinese holidaymakers. Building is reported to begin in September or October 2010. In 2017, the

housing development A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex, housing development, subdivision or community) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Popular throug ...

Kadakaisi was still in construction.

References

Sources

* ''Galeria Cadaqués, obres de la collecció Bombelli''. . (MACBA 2006) in Catalan * ''El Cadaqués de Peter Harnden i Lanfronco Bombelli''. . Col·legi d'Arquitectes de Catalunya * ''El Vocabulari de Cadaqués''. , Ernesta sala, Parsifal Edicions, written in Catalan * ''Cadaqués''. Josep Pla. . This book is available in Catalan and Spanish. * ''Contraband''. Josep Pla. About experiences Pla had in running small-time contraband from Cadaqués.

External links

*
Cadaqués tourism

English guide to Cadaqués

Government data pages

International Photo Festival InCadaqués
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cadaques Municipalities in Alt Empordà Populated places in Alt Empordà Articles containing video clips