Plaça de la Vila

Vilanova i la Geltrú is a city in Barcelona province. The town has a long history, and experienced an efflorescence during the Romantic period evidenced by a wealth of opulent 19th-century buildings, and its atmospheric town square, the Plaça de la Vila. It has a population of 66,000 (2018).

Understand

Agriculture and the maritime trade in wine were the traditional sources of income during the 18th and 19th centuries. Today, while agriculture and a significant fishing fleet continue to be sources of income, the primary economic activity is industry in the sectors of metal, textile and chemicals.

History

Although the legend of its foundation tells us that its origin was the peasants who escaped from the right of a feudal lord, this is not confirmed and its history is attested in that it was officially founded in 1274 when King James I granted it the Puebla Letter.

In the middle of the 18th century, the city became prosperous when King Carlos III allowed Vilanova to trade with America. It also invested in culture, and the first recreational societies were founded then. At the beginning of the 19th century, the majestic meeting gardens appeared, giving it the appearance of a great joyful city due, in large part, to the contact it was acquiring with the island of Cuba.

During the dictatorship, large numbers of people fleeing poverty in Southern Spain settled in Vilanova. They are sometimes referred to by historians as "fugitives of fascism". Although they experienced prejudice they became increasingly accepted and known as els alters Vilanovins or "the other Vilanovins". By 1970, a majority of the town's population had been born elsewhere. In the first decade of the 21st century, there was another wave of immigrants (called nouvinguts or "newcomers" locally), this time primarily from North Africa, South America and Eastern Europe.

Get in

Vilanova i la Geltrú is 40 km south-west of Barcelona, and the more famous coastal resort of Sitges some 10 km to the north-east.

See

• Museum of the Sea, Pujada Far de Sant Cristòfol, 2, ☏ +34 600 50 92 23. (updated May 2019)
• 1 Museum Víctor Balaguer (Biblioteca Museu Víctor Balaguer), Av. Víctor Balaguer, ☏ +34 938 154 202, informacio@victorbalaguer.cat. Collections of Roman, Egyptian and prehistoric antiquities, as well as paintings, engravings, sculptures, coins and a large library. (updated May 2019)
• 2 Museum Romantic Can Papiol, C/ Mayor, 32, museupapiol@vilanova.cat. (updated May 2019)
• 3 Catalonian Railway Museum (Museu del Ferrocarril de Catalunya), Pl. Eduard Maristany, s/n, ☏ +34 938 158 491, comunicacio@museudelferrocarril.org. One of the largest collections of historic steam engines in the world. (updated May 2019)

Do

The Passeig Ribes Roges, along the beach

• Enjoy its full services beaches.

Festivals

The traditional and popular festivals (festes) celebrated in Vilanova i la Geltrú are among the richest and most varied in Catalonia. Locals say that Vilanovins "always have a leg in the air" referring to their festive proclivity.

• Carnaval, held in late February, culminates in a week-long debauch of dances, masquerades, social satire, mock battles, permitted disrespect, feasts, processions, and pranks all in honor of Sa Majastat el Rei Carnestoltes (His Majesty the King Carnival) also known as the "king of the senseless" celebrated for his prodigious sexual prowess and devastating satire. Up to a third of the population participates in Les Comparses, a couples dance in which rival groups hurl hard candies at one another in what is called the Sweet War. On Dijous Gras (Fat Thursday) they celebrate the Merengada, a day-long orgy of eating and fighting with sticky sweet meringue, leaving a sticky residue throughout the town. While many of the acts of carnaval remain constant, every year there are innovations and topical satire attacking the foibles of the rich, powerful, inept and corrupt.

Cap-grossos during Festa Major

Ball de Bastons, Vilanova, Festa Major

• Festa Major, in early August, is dedicated to the city's patron saint, the Virgin of the Snows (Mare de Déu de les Neus). Processions begin with a correfoc of ritual devils led by the Ball de Diables de Vilanova i la Geltrú. The processions include traditional dances by costumed figures including the dances of the Serrallonga, Ball de Bastons, Cintes, Panderos, Cap-grossos (big-headed dwarfs), Cercolets, Pastorets, Gitanes, and Valencians; imaginary beings such as Gegants (giants), Dracs (fire-breathing dragons), and Mulasses (demonic Mules), and the construction of towering human castles (castell).
• Other festes celebrated in Vilanova include Tots Sants (November 1), Nadal (December 25), Cap d'Any (January 1), els Tres Tombs (January 17), la Diada de Sant Jordi (April 23), Nit de Sant Joan (St John's Night) and Sant Pere (St Peter's Day).
• Festival Internacional de Música Popular Tradicional, Vilanova International World Music Festival, has been held since 1981 and is the oldest world music festival in Spain.

Eat and drink

Apart from traditional seafood restaurants, and cutting-edge presentations of local foods at culinary destinations such as L'Oganquit and Genito, Vilanova is a recognised centre for xató, a winter salad dressed with a rich sauce made from almonds, olives, fish, oil and garlic, which forms the basis for the Festival of Xató (Xatonada) in tandem with nearby villages and towns.

Other local innovations include glòries, elaborate confections of meringue presented during carnaval that may be a dying tradition, and the Mig-Mig, a refreshing summer drink invented at the gelateria Cal Llorens, is a fifty-fifty blend of orxata de xufa made from tigernuts and granissat de llimona or pulverized ice with lemon syrup.

Sleep

• Hotel Atenea Park, c. Juan Sebastian Elcano, 4, ☏ +34 938 150 638. 
• TulStig DelMar apartment, Rambla la Pau. 

Go next

Two wellworthy towns very near are Sitges and of course Barcelona.