Village
Vilanova i la Geltrú is the capital of the Garraf, in the province of Barcelona, situated on the Mediterranean coast 45 km from both Barcelona and Tarragona. Officially founded in 1274, when James I granted it the Carta Puebla, it later became a street of Barcelona by privilege of Alfonso IV in 1418. In the mid-18th century, permission from Charles III to trade with America brought a prosperity that was also reflected in culture, with the founding of the first recreational societies. From that golden age, lived above all during Romanticism, the Víctor Balaguer Museum and mansions such as Casa Samà or Casa Cabanyes remain. With 71,641 inhabitants (INE 2025), it is known as l'Havana Xica for its past linked to the indianos who made their fortune in Cuba.
Monument
The masia d'en Cabanyes is a house-museum in Vilanova i la Geltrú that houses the Centre for the Interpretation of the Romanticism of Manuel de Cabanyes, dedicated to spreading the legacy of the Cabanyes family and the Romantic movement. In 1975 Joaquim de Cabanyes Ricart donated the building and the artistic objects it contained to the Ajuntament of Vilanova i la Geltrú, which undertook to preserve it, adapt it as a cultural facility and acquire the estate surrounding it. In March 2014 the Generalitat de Catalunya granted it the designation of Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (Spain's highest level of heritage protection), in the category of historic monument, and delimited its protected surroundings.
Monument
The Castell de la Geltrú, which gives its name to the settlement of la Geltrú, integrated into Vilanova i la Geltrú (Garraf, Barcelona), was built in Gothic style between the 12th and 15th centuries on a small 10th-century fortress dependent on the castle of Ribes. First documented in 1078, in 999 the area already appeared as a Vila Episcopal under the rule of the bishops of Barcelona; the lordship later passed to the Manresa family and, in 1576, the Santjust family sold it to the municipalities of Vilanova and la Geltrú. After the demolition of a circular tower in 1862, it was rebuilt between 1918 and 1920 by the architect Jeroni Martorell, and since 1997 it has housed the Arxiu Comarcal del Garraf.
Monument
Medieval watchtower located on the outskirts of Vilanova i la Geltrú, next to the hermitage of Sant Joan d'Enveja, with which it forms a group on the present-day carrer de la Torre d'Enveja. It was the head castle of the quadra d'Enveja, a feudal district whose existence is documented from 1290, although local tradition places its conquest on Saint John's day in the year 1125, an episode said to have prompted the rebuilding of the adjoining chapel. In its surroundings also stood the old cemetery of the quadra.
Monument
The torre de Solicrup is part of an estate atop a hill, next to the old road of Solicrup, east of Vilanova i la Geltrú. It is one of the oldest estates in the municipality, documented since 1281. Next to the farmhouse, of rectangular plan with iron balconies on the upper floor, stands the defence tower, of square base and three storeys, crowned with stepped battlements and machicolations. In 1644 the estate was acquired by the order of the Mare de Déu de la Mercè, whose friars restored it, fortified it and built an oratory there that is still preserved. In 1835 it was bought at auction by Joan Samà i Martí, who between 1843 and 1892 turned it into a large wine-growing estate; since the end of the civil war it has belonged to the descendants of Josep Bertran i Musitu.
Monument
Tower of square plan, at once watchtower and defence, situated at the centre of the Mas de l'Esquerrer de Baix, a farmhouse on flat land facing the coast, south of the municipality of Vilanova i la Geltrú (Garraf). It operated alongside a contemporary building, later extended, so that today it remains integrated into the complex, surrounded by other added structures; the immediate surroundings are today a housing estate. A document from the Archive of Cubelles records that Bartomeu Esquerrer, father and son, died intestate on 3 August 1585, at the hands of Moors, in the house of the tower. The complex was restored in the 19th century by the owner Josep Rosell i Serracan, bought in 1934 by Eduardo Alfonso, and in 1999 it was acquired by the owners of the Platja Vilanova campsite, who restored it again.
Monument
A 19th-century fort, known as Torre Blava or tower of Ribes Roges, on the beach of Ribes Roges, Vilanova i la Geltrú (Garraf, Barcelona). It was built during the Third Carlist War, in the last third of the 19th century, with a circular plan, a round-arched door, rows of arrow slits and a brick moulding running around the whole diameter; it ends in a flat terrace from which a small circular body projects. Restored, it now houses the Espai Guinovart, dedicated to the Mediterranean and to sailors, laid out over three thematic floors. It has been declared a Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) since 1949.
Monument
The Biblioteca Museu Víctor Balaguer was founded in 1884 by the politician and writer Víctor Balaguer, in gratitude to Vilanova i la Geltrú for the support received in his political career, with the aim of creating a temple of knowledge open to all. It was the first public building in Catalonia to combine the functions of library and museum, and it remains one of its oldest and most pioneering cultural facilities. Since the year 2000 the museum has formed part of the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya and the library of the Biblioteca de Catalunya, and in October 2019 it was declared a Museu d'Interès Nacional by the Generalitat, in recognition of the importance of its collections and its national and international standing.
Monument
The Museu Romàntic Can Papiol occupies a manor house from the late 18th century in the historic centre of Vilanova i la Geltrú, built between 1790 and 1801 on the commission of Maria Càndida Padró and her son Francesc de Papiol for the influential Papiol family, enriched by the exploitation of their lands around the town. Francesc de Papiol, a deputy at the Cortes of Cadiz in 1812, had to go into exile in Mallorca after being kidnapped during the Peninsular War, and died without descendants in 1817; the house passed by inheritance through several family branches until, in 1959, a descendant sold it with all its furniture to the Diputación de Barcelona, which opened it as a museum in 1961. It thus recreates the daily life of a well-to-do family of the 19th century, with the furniture and decoration of the period.
Nature
The beach of Ribes Roges is an urban beach in Vilanova i la Geltrú (Garraf), bounded on the east by the city's harbour, which separates it from the beach of Sant Cristòfol, and on the west by a breakwater from 1984 that separates it from the beach of l'Adarró. Facing south-southeast, it is 906 metres long with an average width of 156 metres, of fine sand and gentle slope; the riera de Sant Joan flows into it. On the breakwater stands the sculpture Pasífae, by Òscar Estruga i Andreu, and behind the park that surrounds it rises the Torre Blava, an old Carlist fort. It holds the Blue Flag and, since 2014, its dunes have hosted the nesting of the Kentish plover, a protected species. The name Ribes Roges comes from the reddish clay soils that used to border the beach.
Activity
The Festa Major de Vilanova i la Geltrú (Garraf) is celebrated from the last weekend of July until 5 August in honour of the Mare de Déu de les Neus, patron saint of the city since 1784, when the Junta de Parròquia established this devotion in memory of a hailstorm that had destroyed vineyards and fruit trees the previous year. Since then, the bond with the Virgin has been renewed every year through the Vot del Poble. Until 1966 the festivity was celebrated as a religious procession; since then it has taken the form of a civic parade. Its events include the Convit a la Festa, with the launching of the Dotze morterets, the cercaviles with giants, the drac and the mulassa, castellers performances and a fireworks display on the beach on the night of 4 August.
Curiosity
The indiano phenomenon of Vilanova i la Geltrú began in the mid-18th century, when King Charles III allowed the town to trade with America and the city experienced strong economic growth. Contact with Cuba and the lushness of its pleasure gardens gave rise to the nickname l'Havana Xica. Of that prosperity, close to ninety heritage elements remain, linked to the indianos who made their fortune on the island.
Monument
Hermitage in Vilanova i la Geltrú, one of the town's heritage landmarks.
Curiosity
Modernista cooperative wineries in Vilanova i la Geltrú, a testament to the winemaking tradition of the Garraf.
Activity
Els Tres Tombs de Vilanova i la Geltrú, also called the Festa dels Traginers de Sant Antoni Abat, is celebrated on 16 and 17 January, the latter a public holiday in the city. The cult of Sant Antoni Abat goes back to the 12th century, when a small Romanesque chapel stood in the centre; in 1363 he was proclaimed patron saint and a parish was dedicated to him. On the 17th, at midday, horses, carts and carriages are blessed and parade three times through the streets of the centre, with a prize-giving in the afternoon on the Rambla Principal and the traditional Dinar del Carreter (carters' lunch). The organising federation brings together seventeen carriages, and the typical treat is the tortell de Sant Antoni, with lemon zest and cinnamon and an animal figure hidden inside. The festival is listed in Catalonia's Catalogue of Festive Heritage.
Monument
The Museu del Ferrocarril de Vilanova i la Geltrú (Railway Museum) was opened on 3 August 1990 in a former locomotive depot from 1881, with the Rotunda and the old Renfe Economato building as its initial core. It preserves around 50 vehicles from all periods, including 25 steam locomotives, such as the 120-2112 «Martorell», the oldest preserved in Spain, and the 141F-2348 «Mikado», the last steam locomotive to run in the country. It also holds the Harlan carriage, built in 1878 in the United States and the first Spanish vehicle with an automatic brake, along with diesel and electric locomotives, passenger carriages and freight wagons. Its documentation centre holds more than 4,500 bibliographic references and an archive of more than 7,000 railway images.
Activity
Traditional aplec held at the Trinitat hermitage in Vilanova i la Geltrú.
Historical milestone
In 1274 Jaume I granted a charter of settlement to the new villa that had arisen on the plain of the district of Cubelles, with franchises to attract residents. From that settlement and from the old castle of la Geltrú the present municipality was born.
Historical milestone
The free trade regulation of 1778 allowed the Catalan ports to deal directly with the colonies. Vilanova fitted out ships for Cuba and Puerto Rico and the money repatriated by the indianos filled the villa with houses and gardens.
Historical milestone
Francesc Gumà i Ferran was born in Vilanova i la Geltrú in 1833 and, at seventeen, after his father's death, set off to seek his fortune in Matanzas, Cuba, where at eighteen he was appointed manager of a port warehouse and at nineteen, its director; with his brothers he also founded the shipping agency Gumá Hermanos. Back in Vilanova in 1857, he strengthened his business ties with the Garraf and Penedès comarques. With the capital raised in Cuba he promoted the direct railway line from Barcelona to Valls along the coast, built between 1881 and 1884, which ended the Garraf's isolation and drew workshops and shipyards to the comarca.
Historical milestone
The Víctor Balaguer Library-Museum, in Vilanova i la Geltrú, was founded in 1884 by the politician, historian and poet Víctor Balaguer, who donated his library and collections to the town in gratitude for the support he had received during his political career. It was one of the first museums in Catalonia conceived with a civic purpose and open to the public. From 2000 it operated as a branch of the National Art Museum of Catalonia and the Library of Catalonia, until in 2016 the Generalitat declared it a Museu d'Interès Nacional, a distinction that replaced its earlier affiliation and gives it a special status within Catalan cultural heritage.
Food and drink
Stew of cuttlefish cooked with its own ink, onion, tomato and potato, with all the ingredients put raw into the pan and cooked slowly. It is the recipe most identified with the households and the restaurants of Vilanova.
Food and drink
Salted preparation made from the offal and the less prime parts of the tuna, pressed and cured. It is cut thinly and served with oil and bread, and is one of the most characteristic seafaring preserves of the port.
Food and drink
Fat Thursday opens the carnival with a meringue battle in the square, after distributing kilos of whipped cream among those present. The custom coexists with the pork-crackling cocas and the omelette typical of the day.