EVERY SUMMER THERE IS A WIDE AND DIVERSE MUSICAL AND THEATRICAL OFFER TO SHARE WITH LOCAL TOURISM
Catalonia is currently one of the autonomous communities with the richest music festival scene. With an increasingly wide and diverse programming, featuring both well-established and newly created events, more and more tourists are choosing their itinerary based on a packed agenda that intensifies with the arrival of good weather. Like every season, summer is synonymous with parties, cultural activities, festivals, and music showcases. Some of these events have already earned prestige thanks to the quality and talent of the actors and ensembles participating. Other events, whether due to the setting, dates, or simply by offering an attractive proposition, have allowed tourists and visitors to become the protagonists. As for seasonal festivals in Catalonia, one of the most successful offerings is the GREC Festival in Barcelona, which started at the end of June and runs until July 28th. Besides attracting tourists and visitors to the Catalan capital, it also offers a summer experience for the people of Barcelona. The Barcelona GREC Festival is the city’s main event for theater, dance, music, and circus. It is a festival with a long tradition that has become not only the main cultural attraction of Barcelona’s summer, but also a reference in the European festival calendar. The festival takes its name from its main venue, where the inaugural sessions are invariably organized: the Teatre Grec on Montjuïc, an open-air theater inaugurated during the 1929 Universal Exposition. This year’s edition features the presence of emerging companies with great talent, as well as more established ones. According to the director of the GREC Festival, Francesc Casadesúsc:
“we will see performances by artists who, committed to their projects, point to the creative future of performing arts. It is also a festival designed to stimulate the local scene with many initiatives in favor of creation, without losing sight that we must imagine the future collectively.”
Un Another prestigious summer event is the CAP ROIG Festival in Calella de Palafrugell, known for its varied and high-quality musical offerings that cater to a wide range of audiences. It takes place between mid-July and mid-August. The Cap Roig Festival is a dance and music festival held in the Cap Roig Gardens since 2001, featuring national and international artists. The festival is held in an open-air venue with a capacity for 2,118 spectators. The Cap Roig Castle and Botanical Garden were built in 1927 by Russian Colonel Nicolai Woevodsky, an enthusiast of drawing and architecture, and his wife Dorothy Webster, an English aristocrat, decorator, and archaeology and gardening enthusiast. The Cap Roig Festival is perhaps the most important event on the Costa Brava. This summer, artists such as Ara Malikian, Sebastián Yatra, Mika, Pablo Alborán, Simply Red, Joan Dausà, and David Bisbal will participate in the Cap Roig Festival. Performances will take place between July 14th and August 19th, including a concert by local artist Sílvia Pérez Cruz.
The Castell de Peralada International Music Festival is another prestigious summer event held on the Costa Brava and this year is framed within the “Peralada Centenary”. The medieval ensemble of the Peralada Castle serves as the festival’s venue during the months of July and August. The Auditorium, located within the gardens of the Parc Castell de Peralada, is an ideal space for concerts during the summer nights. This festival was founded in 1987 due to the musical vocation of its president, Carmen Mateu, and is considered one of the most important artistic events of the summer season, with a clear commitment to excellence in opera and dance. The festival brings together international music figures such as tenor Freddie de Tommasso, who will open this summer’s edition, as well as Diana Damrau and Nicolas Testé. Renowned maestro of Baroque music, Jordi Savall, will combine viola da gamba performance with directing Le Concert des Nations in his concert this season. The festival will also feature the highly acclaimed soprano Serena Saénz and the acclaimed tenor Xabier Anduaga.
Dance and opera are two of the festival’s great highlights, and both genres are prominently featured. Dancer Israel Galván will make his debut in Peralada with Solo, a performance in which he explores the possibilities of dance without any other company than himself. It is a personal reflection on flamenco dance without music and ornaments. This summer, the castle’s viewpoint will host the comic opera The Telephone or L’Amour à trois by Gian Carlo Menotti. Under the musical direction of Iván Martín, the musical interpretations will be performed by Galdós Ensemble, featuring the voices of soprano Ruth Giménez and baritone Jan Antem. This production, in a parodic key, tells the story of Lucy and Ben, a couple whose relationship becomes increasingly complicated due to her addiction to the phone.
There are countless cultural and musical events taking place throughout the region, including the Porta Ferrada Festival in Sant Feliu de Guíxols and theJardins de Pedralbes Festival in Barcelona, among many others celebrated during the summer season.
SUMMER IS A FESTIVAL THROUGHOUT CATALONIA.-
In enclosed venues or in the open air, in stadiums or in places full of history, from rock to jazz to classical music, all musical styles have their moment of glory at summer festivals. In addition to the traditional and varied offerings, some performing arts and audiovisual festivals have also been incorporated. Art, painting, music, fashion, theater and dance festivals, and film exhibitions, among other great proposals, are another attraction of summer to be enjoyed during leisure time or vacations, perfectly combining with local tourism. Catalonia, located in southern Europe, in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula and bathed by the Mediterranean Sea, offers its natural wealth to tourists and visitors, and has good transportation routes that make it easy to travel throughout the territory, whether by private vehicle, public transport, or through the various tourism programs organized by different operators and tourism promotion agencies. The favorable climate and the quality of active tourism and nature offerings, complemented by a wide and diverse gastronomy and accommodation options, as well as the artistic and cultural heritage, work in favor of Catalonia, which boasts a millenary history and its own culture and language that have given it a distinct identity
Catalonia offers many ideal spaces for practicing active tourism and enjoying its diverse landscapes, ranging from the highest peaks of the Pyrenees to the most secluded coves of the Mediterranean, passing through the plains of the Catalan interior and the natural areas of the Ebro Delta and the Lleida region. There are so many interesting cultural examples that it is difficult to highlight just one. Nevertheless, it is recommended to visit or explore dreamlike buildings in Barcelona, the capital of modernism, where the Sagrada Familia or the Palau de la Música Catalana stand out, or to take a route through the UNESCO World Heritage sites, such as the archaeological ensemble of Tarraco, the Poblet Monastery in Tarragona, or the churches of the Boí Valley in Lleida. On one hand, the inland regions of Barcelona hide many corners where one can live in harmony with nature, a land that invites exploration of hermitages, castles, and historical remains from various eras. With a unique modernist heritage, one can also discover stunning natural spaces and an entrenched tradition of wine tourism. For nature lovers, Catalonia offers captivating landscapes with spectacular mountains and a territory rich in legends. A good way to discover it all is through rural life, gastronomic pleasures, and activities in nature.
Other tourism options and activities worth considering include:
HIKING – A network of around five thousand kilometers of long-distance paths, and about four thousand more kilometers of short trails and local paths.
CYCLING AND MOUNTAIN BIKING – The variety of landscapes and the pleasant climate in Catalonia invite us to practice cycling and mountain biking (BTT) throughout the year.
WHITE WATER ACTIVITIES – With the arrival of spring and the thaw, rivers such as Noguera Ribagorzana, Noguera Pallaresa, Garona, and Segre become ideal places for experiencing river adventures with counter-currents and whirlpools.
NATURE-BASED TOURISM ACTIVITIES:
- Birdwatching Tourism
- Rock Climbing
- Equestrian Tourism
- Underwater Activities
The Catalan Tourism Agency has promoted various tourism programs to fully enjoy tourism activities and experiences in contact with nature.
At ESTEVE Business Cars,we also move with music and culture.
Cultural entities and associations form a very important collective in our society. Symphonic Orchestras, Music Groups, Theater Companies, Dance Companies, among others, all have different mobility needs to cover the activities and performances they carry out each season.
We have a modern fleet with different capacities that will meet transportation needs with comfort and safety.
Cultura, música, teatre i dansa.- Una àmplia oferta de Festivals d’Estiu