The Costa Brava is present in Madrid from 20th to 26th April with a series of cultural, gastronomic and promotional events

Date: 21-04-2009

• The Costa Brava is present in Madrid from 20th to 26th April in various cultural, gastronomic and promotional events organised jointly by the Catalan Government as part of the Catalan Week in Madrid, by the Provincial Council of Girona and by the Patronat de Turisme Costa Brava Girona.

• On Monday 20th April, at 7.30 p.m., the Patronat de Turisme, in partnership with the Catalan Government, presented the photographic exhibition "The Costa Brava before the Costa Brava" and the book Rediscovering the Costa Brava at the Blanquerna Cultural Centre as part of the celebrations of the Centenary of the Costa Brava.

• From 20th to 25th April, at the Blanquerna Cultural Centre, visitors can enjoy the photographic and artistic exhibition entitled “The Costa Brava before the Costa Brava”, composed of 60 historical photographs of 16 towns along the Girona coast.

• The book Rediscovering the Costa Brava, commissioned by the Patronat de Turisme Costa Brava Girona and published by Lunwerg Editores, aims to charm readers with a wide selection of current and retrospective images of the main natural and heritage attractions of the Costa Brava, while commemorating and publicising 100 years of the Costa Brava name.

• A gastronomic event celebrating the Centenary of the Costa Brava will be held at the Ritz Hotel on 21st April at 8.30 p.m. This gala dinner, to be attended by some one hundred personalities from Madrid's artistic, economic, political and social scene, will include typical dishes from the Centenary Menu.

• The general public can enjoy the Costa Brava and Pirineu de Girona Tourism and Gastronomy Fair, scheduled for 24th, 25th and 26th April at Madrid's central Jacinto Benavente Square, where promotional tourism material and gastronomic tasting sessions will be offered over the three days

Madrid, Tuesday 21st April 2009

The Costa Brava is present in Madrid from 20th to 26th April in various cultural, gastronomic and promotional events organised jointly by the Catalan Government as part of the Catalan Week in Madrid, by the Provincial Council of Girona and by the Patronat de Turisme Costa Brava Girona.
Girona's presence in Madrid got underway on Monday 20th April with the opening of the photographic exhibition “The Costa Brava before the Costa Brava” and the presentation of the book Rediscovering the Costa Brava at 7.30 p.m. at the Blanquerna Cultural Centre. The event was attended by Catalan dignitaries including the Catalan Minister for Home Affairs, Institutional Relations and Participation, Joan Saura, the specialised culture and tourism press and the general public.
Speeches were made by Enric Vilert, President of the Patronat de Turisme Costa Brava Girona, José Ignacio Cuervo Argudín, the Catalan Government's Delegate to Madrid, the Catalan Minister Joan Saura, Magda Casamitjana, Mayor of Roses, Jesús Infante, General Director of Lunwerg Editores, and Josep Playà, journalist and co-author of the book Rediscovering the Costa Brava.
During the presentation held at the Blanquerna Cultural Centre, the President of the Patronat de Turisme, Enric Vilert, thanked the representatives of the Catalan Government for providing the exhibition space and for their collaboration in organising this Costa Brava promotional event as part of the Catalan Culture Week in Madrid. Vilert stated that “the Centenary of the Costa Brava is an excellent opportunity to promote the image of the Costa Brava in Spain and abroad while transmitting the personality, culture, diversity and quality that have characterised the Costa Brava throughout its history”. Before giving the floor to Magda Casamitjana, Mayor of Roses, who presented the exhibition “The Costa Brava before the Costa Brava”, he added that the Centenary gives us a chance to reflect on the future of the Costa Brava but also to look back and assess the path taken over the last 100 years and evaluate the evolution of the towns and landscape of such a characterful coastline.
Artistic photographic exhibition "The Costa Brava before the Costa Brava". Photographs from La Casa de la Postal, 1915-1936
In commemoration of the centenary of the topographical name given to the Girona coastline, i.e. the Costa Brava, in June 2008 Roses Town Council opened the exhibition entitled “The Costa Brava before the Costa Brava”. This travelling exhibition includes a selection of one hundred and ten photographs of the Costa Brava taken by La Casa de la Postal, directed by the photographer Lucien Roisin, between 1915 and 1936, along with a display of promotional material on the Costa Brava associated with these photographs (travel guides and postcards), published before the Civil War.
On its arrival in Madrid, the exhibition will be open to the public from 20th to 25th April (Monday to Friday from 10.30 a.m. to 9.30 p.m.; Saturday from 10.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m.) and is housed in the exhibition room of the Blanquerna Cultural Centre, displaying sixty-five of the one hundred and ten photographs that make up the travelling exhibition, corresponding to sixteen Costa Brava towns.
The interest held by this exhibition makes it likely that it will travel extensively around towns on the Costa Brava, as well as the rest of Spain and abroad. By the time it arrives in Madrid, the exhibition will have been shown in La Ciutadella Cultural Space in Roses (from 4th July to 22nd October 2008), in the History Museum of Sant Feliu de Guíxols (from 5th November 2008 to January 2009) and in the House of Culture of Girona (from 6th February 2009 to the end of March). Upon leaving Madrid it will travel to Palamós and other places.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a four-language catalogue of 331 pages displaying the exhibited photographs along with introductory and analytical texts by Josep Playà (journalist), Pep Parer (photographer and curator) and Jaume Santaló (historian and Culture and Heritage Coordinator of Roses Town Council).
The exhibition at the Blanquerna Cultural Centre can be visited from 20th to 25th April 2009 (Monday to Friday, 10.30 a.m. – 9.30 p.m.; Saturday 10.30 a.m. – 2.30 p.m.).
The book Rediscovering the Costa Brava commemorates one hundred years of the Costa Brava in Madrid
The publication of Rediscovering the Costa Brava has been timed to coincide with the commemoration of the Centenary of the Costa Brava since this book displays images of places and experiences from a period stretching from the turn of the 20th century to the modern day.
The book is divided into four chapters where text and illustrations are interwoven. The authors of the texts, the journalist and writer Màrius Carol and the journalist Josep Playà, enable readers to discover the history of the Costa Brava, illustrated with photographs by Sebastià Jordi Vidal, author of an early guide published in the early 1920s, by Francesc Català-Roca, who photographed the area when the tourism sector was taking off, and by Kim Castells, who provides a contemporary look of the Girona coastline.
The book's first chapter, entitled A pioneering guide of fleeting snapshots, is illustrated with black and white photographs by Sebastià Jordi Vidal and with texts by Màrius Carol. Meanwhile, the second chapter, entitled A skin diver in the abyssal depths, contains black and white photographs by Francesc Català-Roca and is closely related to the third chapter, whose text is by Màrius Carol and Josep Playà and is entitled Costa Brava, a landscape rediscovered. The final chapter, entitled The scenographer of the great theatre, contains contemporary colour images by the photographer Kim Castells, with a description by Màrius Carol.
Rediscovering the Costa Brava, which contains 224 pages and 180 images, has an initial print run of 6,000 copies and is published in four languages (Catalan/French and Spanish/English). The Patronat de Turisme and the Provincial Council of Girona will distribute 1,000 copies of the book in official and promotional functions while the Lunwerg publishing house will employ its usual distribution and sales channels.
In order to publicise the Centenary of the Costa Brava, along with the natural and scenic attractions and values of the Girona coastline, the Patronat de Turisme Costa Brava Girona has published books that focus on showing the beauty and scenic diversity of the Costa Brava, its people, culture and the unique nature of this land.
Commemorative events of the centenary of the Costa Brava in Madrid
A gastronomic event celebrating the Centenary of the Costa Brava is to be held at the Ritz Hotel on 21st April. This gala dinner, to be attended by more than one hundred personalities from Madrid's artistic, economic, political and social scene, will include typical dishes from the Centenary Menu. Girona's gastronomy will be declared the “ambassador” of the Costa Brava at this social gathering and its most internationally renowned chefs will be recognised as Centenary “ambassadors”.
These chefs have managed to convey the essence of the Costa Brava in their creations, taking the legacy of traditional cuisine and reinterpreting it with their own personalities.
The general public can enjoy the Costa Brava and Pirineu de Girona Tourism and Gastronomy Fair, scheduled for 24th, 25th and 26th April at Madrid's central Jacinto Benavente Square. For three days, the Girona tourism and gastronomy information stands present at the fair will provide visitors with tourism information and offer them gastronomic tasting sessions.
The Girona-based organisations and tourism companies taking part are as follows: Blanes Tourism Office, Lloret Turisme, Tossa de Mar Tourism Office, Figueres Tourism Office, L'Escala–Empúries Tourism Office, Roses Tourism Office and Girona Tourism Office, along with the county councils of Alt Empordà, Baix Empordà, La Selva, El Ripollès, El Pla de l'Estany, El Gironès, La Cerdanya, Tourisme Garrotxa, La Molina Ski Resort and Turisme Rural Girona. Meanwhile, a range of gastronomic organisations will be taking part, including Cuina Remença de la Vall d'en Bas (Peasant Cuisine of Vall d'en Bas), Cuina Volcànica (Volcanic Cuisine), Cuina Jueva de Besalú (Jewish Cuisine of Besalú), Cuina del Vent (Cuisine of the Wind), the Gastronomy Club of El Gironès and Anxoves de l'Escala (Anchovies from L'Escala).
At 12 noon on 24th April the official opening of the fair will take place, attended by Enric Vilert, President of the Patronat de Turisme Costa Brava Girona, along with several Madrid dignitaries. The opening hours of the tourism fair are from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

 

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