Village
Cubelles is a coastal town in the Garraf, in the province of Barcelona, situated at the mouth of the river Foix and the last town on the comarca's coastal strip heading south, 50 kilometres from Barcelona. It has three kilometres of beaches, including the Platja Llarga and that of les Salines. On the ruins of the old medieval castle, the so-called castell de Cubelles or casal dels marquesos d'Alfarràs was built in 1675, restored and open to guided visits, housing an exhibition devoted to the clown Charlie Rivel. The parish church of Santa Maria dates from 1737, with a bell tower from 1765. The municipality also preserves the Antiga Quadra Gallifa, an 11th-century complex, and Ca l'Aleix, a 16th-century farmhouse that was an inn and staging post on the old Camí Ral.
Monument
The castle of Cubelles, also called casal dels Marquesos d'Alfarràs, is a building declared a Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (Catalonia's highest level of heritage protection) that overlooks the coastal town of Cubelles, in the Garraf. The first reliable reference dates from 1041, although remains of opus spicatum masonry suggest an earlier origin, from the late 10th or early 11th century. It belonged successively to the viscounts of Cardona and to the Sentmenat family, among other lineages, until in 1288 Alfonso II sold it to Gispert de Castellet. Since 2018 it can be visited on the first Saturday and Sunday of each month, as well as by arranged visits; it houses the tourist office and the permanent exhibition devoted to the clown Charlie Rivel.
Monument
The church of Santa Maria de Cubelles, the parish church of this town in the Garraf (Barcelona), is a rectangular-plan building with three naves separated by buttresses and a two-pitched tile roof. Its façade, of simple composition, has a doorway with a lintelled door, stone jambs and a broken pediment topped with volutes, as well as a central circular window and an oculus with a triangular tympanum. The bell tower, of square plan and three chamfered-corner storeys, rises on the left. Work began in the late 18th century, was interrupted by the War of the Spanish Succession and was completed in 1737; the bell tower was built in 1765. Burnt in 1936, with the collapse of the vault, it was rebuilt and restored in 1955.
Nature
A natural area around the reservoir and the river Foix, straddling the comarques of the Garraf and the Alt Penedès. It occupies nearly 2,900 hectares protected since 1993 by the Pla Especial del Pantà del Foix, within the network of natural parks of the Diputació de Barcelona. The landscape combines holm oak groves and pine woods with Mediterranean scrubland and a riverside forest of ash, alder and willow; in its waters live carp, eels and terrapins, and among the birds the grey heron, the kingfisher and Bonelli's eagle stand out. The reservoir, inaugurated in 1928, and a network of trails make it possible to explore a setting where traditional vineyards and orchards are maintained.
Activity
The Festa Major de Cubelles, in Garraf (Barcelona), is celebrated every 15 August in honour of the Mare de Déu de l'Assumpció, patron saint of the municipality. Its central figures are the giants Abdon and Assumpta, created in 1957 and blessed on 15 August 1958, representing a well-to-do peasant, in a navy-blue velvet frock coat and feathered hat, and a pubilla (heiress), in a pink brocade dress, white lace and blue ribbons. Since 1987 they have been accompanied by a third giant dedicated to the local clown Charlie Rivel. The giants of Cubelles have also taken part in Barcelona's Mercè festival since 1959 and in a gathering of giants held since 1982.
Nature
An urban beach in the municipality of Cubelles (Garraf), bordered to the east by the mouth of the Santa Maria stream, next to the boundary with Vilanova i la Geltrú, and to the west by a breakwater separating it from the mouth of the Foix river. Facing south-south-east, it is 580 metres long with an average width of 50 metres, of fine sand, and is protected by detached breakwaters, although winter storms wash away the sand and require annual replenishment. It has a lifeguard service, showers, adapted toilets and canoe and pedal-boat hire, and flies the Blue Flag; the water is monitored weekly with excellent results.
Nature
The mouth of the Foix river is a wetland of about 10 hectares located in the municipality of Cubelles, bounded between the beach and the railway line. It includes a rambla lagoon whose extent varies according to the river's flow, with reed beds, a pebble ridge next to the sea and remains of tamarisk groves. It is home to estuary fish such as grey mullet and eel, and is an important stopover for migratory birds following the Catalan coast, such as the grey heron, the cattle egret or the black-winged stilt. The local ecological group Fauna de Cubelles maintains information boards on its natural values, threatened by the proximity of the population, the influx of visitors and discharges, especially of faecal origin. The area has wooden walkways for crossing the lagoon and the river's branches.
Historical milestone
Josep Andreu i Lasserre was born in Cubelles in 1896 into a family of circus artists and came to be one of the most famous clowns in Europe with his red frock coat and his lament. He died in 1983 and is buried in the village.