| Unspoiled
by the boom. |
| Sitges
is one of very few holiday retreats in Spain that was unspoiled by the
tourist boom of the 60's and 70's and the consequent |
| concrete
tower buildings because it was already well established as a holiday getaway
for the affluent Barcelonians and Cuban sugar |
| and
cigar importers since the 1800's. Many of their beautiful homes still exist
in the Calle Isla de Cuba area and all along the sea front, |
| though
they are now converted to hotels, restaurants or apartments. |
|
  |
| There
are 3 restaurants side by side on the sea front called La Santa María,
La Pinta & La Niña. They are the names of the 3 ships that sailed
off from Spain with Christopher Columbus (Real name Cristoból Colon)
and discovered the Americas. The photo is a replica of La Santa María. |
|
|
|
| ¡Muchas
maricas! |
| Sitges
has a population of 25,000 inhabitants. In the summer the population swells
to 250,000 people! |
|
|
| Trailer
disco was the first gay disco in Spain. They celebrate their 28th birthday
in 2008. |
|
|
| Playa
del Muerto was the first gay nudist beach in the world, since 1930. |
|
|
| What
is Subur? |
| You'll
see the word 'Subur' a lot in Sitges. Subur was the name of a Roman 'party
town' which stood where Sitges now stands over |
| 2,000
years ago. Some things never change! |
|
|
| If
you walk around the old, old part of Sitges in the area of the church,
you'll see blue lines painted along the bottom of many homes. |
| They
were/are fishermen's homes. It's a sign to keep quiet as they sleep by
day. |
|
|
| Sitges
carnival in February is the only carnival in Spain that continued to run
every year throughout Franco's reign. Franco banned all |
| such
fiestas but Sitges refused to give in. |
|
|
| The
concrete planters & blocks that now run the full length of C/ España
were put there in summer 2006 because 3 severe rain storms |
| in
a period of 3 months washed dozens of cars down the street. There are no
storm drains in Sitges and every street slopes towards |
| C/
España. If you are here during a heavy downpour, take a walk along
the beach after it to where the Subur hotel is and you'll see |
| quite
a spectacular sight as the street is turned into a torrential river. |
|
|
| How
do I say Sitges? |
| Sitges
is pronounced very much like 'Seechez' but say it very rapidly with
the 'e' in 'chez' almost silent. |
| It
is not pronounced like 'Sitchez', but even if you can't say it,
you're not alone. Most Spanish people can't say it either because it's
a |
| Catalonian
word and in Castellano (Spanish) two consonants rarely follow each other
and in no instance does a 'g' follow a 't' in Spanish |
| so
they get all tongue tied too trying to tay titges. |
|
|
| "Come
again!" |
| He
says "Calle" but he says "Carrer". He says "Playa" but he says "Platja".
He says "Y", he says "I" and he says "E". |
| As
soon as you arrive in Sitges, you are going to get as confused as hell.
Everyone's saying the same thing, but differently. |
| Sitges
official language is Catalan because it's in Catalonia. Spain's official
language is Castellano but in Sitges they tend to jump from |
| one
language to the other without taking a breath. You're not going crazy!
As for "Y", "I" and "E", they're all ways of saying "And". |
| Calle
or Carrer = Street. Playa or Platja = Beach. |
|
|
| History
of the pink triangle monument on the jetty, west of the gay beach. Click
here |
|
|
| Wondering
about the anti-smoking ban? So far, no gay bar, disco or restaurant has
banned smoking. |
|
|
| Have
fun! :-) |
