Logbook · 7 places

What to see and do in Calella de Palafrugell (Palafrugell)

What to see and do in Calella de Palafrugell (Palafrugell) (Baix Empordà, Girona): 7 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

2 Monuments · 2 Nature · 2 Activities · 1 Food and drink

When to go to Calella de Palafrugell (Palafrugell): festival calendar

June: Cap Roig Gardens Festival (Verano (junio-agosto))
July: Habanera Singing of Calella de Palafrugell (first Saturday of July)

How far each place is from the centre of Calella de Palafrugell (Palafrugell)

Towns near Calella de Palafrugell (Palafrugell)

Spain › Catalonia › Girona › Baix Empordà › Calella de Palafrugell (Palafrugell)

What to see and do in Calella de Palafrugell (Palafrugell)

Castle of Cap Roig
Monument
The Castell de Cap Roig is a neo-medieval building in Calella de Palafrugell, in the Baix Empordà, a bien cultural de interès nacional (a cultural property of national interest) popularly known as Cal Rus. It was built between 1931 and 1975 by the tsarist colonel Nicolai Woevodsky and the English aristocrat Dorothy Webster, who in 1927 invested their fortune in buying the cliff-top land; they only managed to raise the south wing and the monumental entrance. Next to the residence they created a botanical garden with a thousand species, today the Jardins de Cap Roig. Some steps go down to the Cala d'en Massoni, where there is the jetty known as the Banyador de la russa. It belongs to the Fundació La Caixa, which organises exhibitions and the Cap Roig music festival there.
Tower of Calella
Monument
A defensive tower of the 16th-17th centuries on the passeig de la Torre in Calella de Palafrugell, facing the sea.
Port Bo
Nature
Maritime quarter of Calella de Palafrugell, in the municipality of Palafrugell, declared a historic ensemble of national cultural interest; it preserves the original layout of its streets and the white arcaded buildings on the seafront, with the boats beached on the sand as witnesses of its former fishing activity. Its most distinctive feature is the Voltes ensemble, four arcaded buildings with round arches that were used to auction fish, mend nets or serve as a lookout post for fishermen, and which today function as the terrace of a restaurant. The quarter, originally occupied by fishermen's shacks, began to be settled in the late 18th century, when Port Bo beach was the natural harbour of Palafrugell.
Cap Roig Botanical Garden
Nature
A Mediterranean botanical garden on a clifftop, with more than 1,000 plant species; it also hosts the Festival de Cap Roig in summer.
Habanera Singing of Calella de Palafrugell
Activity
The leading gathering of the habanera world, held on the first Saturday of July on the Port Bo beach in Calella de Palafrugell. It began in 1966 as an informal gathering of singers at the Can Batlle tavern, which was such a success that the event had to be moved to the d'en Calau beach; since 1969 it has been held in the Port Bo square, today organised by the Institut de Promoció Econòmica de Palafrugell. It regularly features groups such as Port-Bo, Grup Bergantí, Cavall Bernat, Els Pescadors de l'Escala, Peix Fregit and Terra Endins, and the sing-along ends with the audience singing “La bella Lola” and “El meu avi”. With the traditional tasting of cremat, it is one of the best-known popular events in Catalonia.
Cap Roig Gardens Festival
Activity
The Cap Roig Festival has been held every summer since 2001 in the Cap Roig Gardens, in Calella de Palafrugell, and brings together national and international music and dance artists. The open-air stage, with capacity for 2118 spectators, sits in a 17-hectare site facing the sea, next to the botanical garden and the castle that the Russian colonel Nicolai Woevodsky and his wife, the English aristocrat Dorothy Webster, began building in 1927. Considered one of the great events of the Costa Brava, in 2007 the newspaper The Independent ranked it second on its list of the ten best summer festivals; in 2017 it broke its attendance record with 46,316 spectators and sold out twenty of its twenty-seven concerts.
El cremat
Food and drink
A drink of rum flamed with sugar, coffee, cinnamon and lemon peel that is stirred while it burns and served hot; it came from the Caribbean with the sailors and accompanies the habanera singing on the beach.