Village
Pals is a medieval town in the Baix Empordà, in the province of Girona, with views over the rice fields of the Baix Ter plain and, to the south, over the Begur massif. Its name comes from the Latin palus, "marshy place". The castle, documented in 889 as the castle of Mont-Áspre in a donation by King Odo I of France, and the 11th-13th-century Romanesque tower known as the Torre de les Hores preside over a historic centre of cobbled streets, the Barri del Pedró, built of golden stone, with round arches and stone balconies, where the church of Sant Pere is also preserved. The Josep Pla viewpoint offers views over the Empordà and the Medes Islands. The economy combines tourism with dry-land farming and the traditional cultivation of rice, the Arròs de Pals brand.
Monument
A circular tower of the medieval castle of Pals (Baix Empordà, Girona), at the top of the historic centre, with views over the plain and the rice fields of the Baix Ter. The main tower dates from the 12th century; in the 15th century the small clock bell tower that crowns the building and gives it its present name, Torre de les Hores, was added. It measures about 15 metres high, with a circular plan 7 metres in diameter and walls almost 2 metres thick; it is accessed by a door facing east, 7 metres up, with a voussoired arch, and inside it has two floors covered with a false dome and a vault. It is one of the best-preserved towers in the Empordà, partly because in 1478 King John II authorised the reuse of stones from the castle while expressly sparing this tower.
Monument
The walls of Pals surrounded the medieval core of the town and today retain a good part of their course, declared a bien cultural de interès nacional (a cultural property of national interest). Among the ensemble the rectangular towers of d'en Ramonet stand out, next to the church, at the northwest corner; that of d'en Rom, at the northern end; and that of d'en Xixanel·lo, to the northeast, as well as the Torre de l'Hospital, rebuilt after its deterioration. Between them stretches of wall survive with arrow slits opened at different heights to adapt to the unevenness of the terrain, visible above all on the Passeig Arqueològic and on the promenade of Dr Pi i Figueres. The best-preserved stretch corresponds to the northern band, datable between the 13th and 14th centuries, while the southern sector, where the town grew later, remained partly hidden or demolished.
Monument
The Barri del Pedró is the medieval core of Pals (Baix Empordà), located at the top of the town and declared a bien cultural de interès nacional (a cultural property of national interest). It retains a good part of the old walled enclosure, one of the best preserved in the Empordà, with six rectangular towers. Of the old fortress only the Torre de les Hores survives, circular in plan, built at the end of the Romanesque period, between the 12th and 13th centuries, to which a small Gothic bell tower was added in the 15th century. At the centre of the enclosure stands the church of Sant Pere, documented since the year 994, with a Gothic nave with a Romanesque apse and façade from the 12th-13th centuries, a Gothic rose window and a Baroque portal. All the buildings are built of apricot-coloured sorrenca stone, which gives unity to the whole.
Monument
The Torre Mora, also called Torre de la Platja, is a building in the municipality of Pals, in the Baix Empordà, declared a Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (Spain's highest level of heritage protection), among the pine groves near the beach of Pals. It was most probably built in the 15th century as the tower of a farmhouse or casal of which only scarce remains survive today. It has a cylindrical plan, retaining some 10 metres of height and 22-23 of perimeter, with remains of battlements; it had two floors and a flat roof, separated by a vault with access through a trapdoor, and on the first floor there was a fireplace. Like most coastal towers, it served as a lookout against piracy, frequent in the Mediterranean between the 16th and 18th centuries. Close to the sea, it served as a landmark for fishermen, as recorded by Josep Pla in his Guia de la Costa Brava.
Nature
Platja Gran de Pals is the urban stretch, so classified by the Generalitat de Catalunya, of the extensive Pals beach (Baix Empordà), which runs for 2.8 kilometres with more than 50 metres of width and medium- to fine-grained sand. Next to it, the beach continues southward with the natural stretches of platja del Grau and platja del Massot, protected within the Parc Natural del Montgrí, les Illes Medes i el Baix Ter since 2010. Behind the beach stretches a long dune belt fixed with plantations of stone pine during the 19th and 20th centuries to protect the farmland from the advance of the sand. On those dunes, between 1958 and 2006, the antennas of Radio Liberty were installed, with metal towers up to 169 metres high, now gone.
Nature
Ter Vell is a former mouth of the Ter river transformed into a wetland of marshes and freshwater lagoons, next to the village of l'Estartit, in the Baix Empordà. It covers about 32 hectares at just 2 metres above sea level, covered by dense reed beds, rushes and patches of halophilic vegetation, with marram grass dunes and Crucianellion maritimae plant communities. It is part of the PEIN Aiguamolls del Baix Empordà and the Montgrí-Illes Medes-Baix Ter Natura 2000 network. It is an important wintering site for birds, especially ducks and herons, with attempts at nesting by the marsh harrier, the bittern and the purple heron. In the second half of the 20th century it underwent a major transformation due to wastewater discharges, which caused siltation and eutrophication of the system.
Nature
Extensive rice fields of almost a thousand hectares between the Ter and the Daró, cultivated since the 15th century, which give the Pals plain its distinctive green landscape.
Activity
A guided or self-guided route through the rice fields of Pals, on the Baix Ter plain, where cultivation has been documented since the 14th century. Its modern commercial expansion is due to Pere Coll i Rigau and his son Pere Coll i Llach, who promoted rice as the municipality's economic engine in the early 20th century. Today the bahía and bomba varieties are grown, sown from late April to early May and harvested from late September to late October; the product is marketed under the Arròs de Pals brand, with the Productes de l'Empordà quality guarantee.
Monument
Sant Pere de Pals is in fact a Gothic church with a single nave and a polygonal head, which incorporates a few scarce elements of the earlier Romanesque temple. It is covered with a ribbed vault, divided into three bays by pointed arches, with a choir that is also vaulted and later Gothic side chapels; in the abside three large Gothic windows open and on the facade a pierced rose window; the portal, a later addition, is popular baroque, with a curved pediment, pinnacles and a niche with the stone image of the patron saint. The square bell tower was added later over the northwest corner. The parish already existed in 1202, when Gilabert de Cruïlles paid homage to the bishop of Girona for it, and in 1478 John II authorised the use of stones from the very ruined castle to repair the church.
Activity
The Festa Major of the medieval town of Pals, with traditional and popular events at the end of July.
Historical milestone
A shortwave station financed by the United States was built above the rice fields, broadcasting propaganda towards the Soviet bloc; it closed in 2001 and its antennas were blown up with explosives in March 2006.
Food and drink
Pals rice has been grown in the flooded fields of the lower Ter since the 15th century, when it is believed the Arabs introduced it from Valencia; in the 17th century Empordan rice came to supply the whole of Catalonia. Its cultivation was restricted at the end of the 18th century to curb the diseases it caused at the time, and was not authorized again until 1900. The crop nearly disappeared and was revived at the end of the 20th century. The most traditional varieties are bahía and bomba, while carnaroli and nembo stand out among current ones; sowing takes place in late April and harvesting between late September and late October. Because it does not clump and stays loose, it is used mainly in arròs a la cassola, a typical Empordan dish, and also in brothy rice dishes. It is protected by the Productes de l'Empordà guarantee mark.