Malgrat de Mar, Barcelona Metropolitan Area, Catalonia, Spain
Malgrat de Mar is a town and the easternmost municipality in the Maresme; and borders the region of La Selva and La Tordera. It is a tourist town, has many hotels and campsites and has a beach area of about 4.5 km.
Malgrat de Mar today is the fruit of a few centuries of history. In the eastern part, a territory bathed by the river Tordera that still preserves a large agricultural area (the Pla de Grau), which the peasantry was conquering with great effort, as it was originally an area of wetlands. We will see the two industrial areas, the one next to the sea, where there are chemical industries and the one in Can Patalina. And, in the southern part, a large hotel area, which has eaten almost the entire Pineda plain. The main economic activity throughout our history has been agriculture, but this does not mean that, from the 19th century onwards, industrial activities related to textiles, but also those already into the 20th century, have a special relevance. bag fencing factories, and also the chemical industries
A small stone floating in the sea. It is what we call “la Pilona”, a platform that served as a unloading point for a complex system of wagons that, from the iron mines of Can Palomeres, transported the ore extracted from the bowels of the mountain. This activity, from the beginning of the 20th century, led to the arrival of a good number of people from the region of Murcia, who acted as a claim to many others who would eventually come.
Turn north is the castle of Palafolls. The medieval and modern history of Malgrat is linked to the barony of Palafolls, which has its initial center in this castle. Malgrat was officially born on December 27, 1373 when Guillem de Palafolls granted a settlement charter to encourage the growth of an existing town that became known as “Vilanova de Palafolls”.
The hill of Serra is the first documented vestiges of human activity in our area. They are located in the current urbanized area of Santa Rita and form what is known as a Roman villa, dating from the late first century BC. It is a peasant nucleus where many defective remains of Roman amphorae have been found, which makes us think of the existence of an oven that made them. This villa would be linked to the Roman city of Blandae.
The village streets and squares buildings that will take back to centuries away. The oldest can be found in the chapel attached to the village hospital, on Carrer de Pasta, built at the end of the 15th century; We can not miss visiting the parish church, from the eighteenth century and a series of modernist buildings from the early twentieth century (ca l’Arnau, the tower of the widow of Can Sala) and magnificent so-called national schools built in 1927 and then known as New Schools.
Beyond some important figures that should be highlighted, from Ramon Turró to Marià Cubí., From Fèlix Cardona to Zenòbia Camprubí, what makes up a population is its people.
In its historic center stands the church of Sant Nicolau, with neoclassical facade and octagonal bell tower, known as “The Cathedral of the Coast”. It also has medieval buildings, such as the manor house that is now the library and the old hospital; and modernist style, such as Ca l’Arnau or Torre de l’Esquena.
Highlights include the elevation of the Castle Hill, Francesc Macià Park, Can Campassol Park, former garden of the birthplace of Zenobia Camprubí, wife of the Nobel Prize for Literature Juan Ramón Jiménez.
It is the last coastal town in the Maresme region and in the province of Barcelona. The river La Tordera delimits the border with the region of La Selva and the province of Girona. It borders the municipalities of Palafolls, Santa Susanna and Blanes.
History
Malgrat de Mar was part of the barony of Palafolls. The first fishermen’s houses were built around the chapel of Sant Antoni Abat, on the left bank of the Malgrat de Mar stream. In the 16th century it was attacked by the Ottomans in 1543, 1545 and 1550. In 1373 a charter of founding population of the so-called Vilanova de Palafolls was granted. In 1559 it achieved the parish independence of Sant Genís de Palafolls.
Since the fourteenth century, Malgrat de Mar has been recognized as a prominent cultural, artistic and social center. Modernism in Malgrat de Mar also left its mark.
The name Malgrat appears in the nineteenth century, although the place name is already documented in the thirteenth century. The etymology is discussed. It could be pre-Roman or it could be related to bad degree in the sense of disembarkation. There is a popular interpretation collected in the Libre dels Feyts d’armes de Catalunya (15th century). French soldiers taken prisoner at Hostalric during the Crusade against the Crown of Aragon were taken to work “reluctantly”:
“He made them go to work in a large tower near the sea, and as they went there reluctantly, so that when they went from Palafolls to work in that land they said they were going reluctantly, that loch s ‘is called Malgrat” – Bernat Boades, Libre dels Feyts d’armes de Catalunya
On May 30, 1937, in the midst of the Spanish Civil War, the transport ship Ciudad de Barcelona, carrying volunteer brigadiers, was torpedoed by Italian-flagged submarines and sank in front of Malgrat de Mar about 2 miles from the beach. The fishermen who witnessed the action went out to sea to rescue the survivors. Every year the descendants of the fishermen who made the rescue commemorate it.
Economy
The main economic engine of the town and the area is tourism. Despite it has hotels, campsites and shops to meet the demands of visitors. Agriculture —with the agricultural areas of the Pla de Grau and the Pla de Pineda— and industry —with the Can Patalina estate and the Camí de la Pomareda factories— are also notable economic activities, although in recent years they have been losing strength. Since the end of the Spanish Civil War, maritime activity has been concentrated on sport and leisure boats and local fishing, with a fishing club. In the eighteenth century, there were about 200 men with naval registration, with a total of up to 50 ships of one to four tons, which made the traffic along the coast to Valencia and France.
Historical heritage
Malgrat de Mar is a town with history. We encourage you to discover the most emblematic buildings and monuments of our heritage, taking a tour of the times and the different architectural styles in which they were built.
The old Church of St. Nicholas.
The first church in the village, for which parishionership was requested in 1560, was dedicated to Saint Nicholas, patron saint of sailors and children, and to Saint Anthony the Abbot, patron saint of animals and farmers. This church occupied the same place as the current one, and had also been built in the space of an old chapel dedicated to Saint Anthony. In 1565, the chapel of Saints Justa and Rufina was opened, patron saint of one of the most important local trades, that of potters. The teacher was Joan Soler, also the author of the parish church of Sant Cebrià de Vallalta. This same architect conceived in 1567 the chapel of the Roser, of Marian devotion and that took importance in Malgrat de Mar because it was dedicated to the figure of the Virgin Maria del Roser after the victory in the battle of Lepanto (1571), in which the people had participated. Finally,
The idea for the current temple was born in 1761 when the Barcelona architect Francesc Trilles was chosen by popular election to design it. In 1783, it was finished and reached the body it still has today. The general style is functional, neat and austere, typical of the architectural culture of the stage, marked by the first impacts of academic and anti-baroque culture. During the Civil War (1936-1939), the church was set on fire and looted, and the most valuable objects (two custodians, a cross and the organ) disappeared. The church was later restored in the 1940s.
The floor plan of the church is in the shape of a Latin cross, with a central nave and two side aisles, separated by thick pillars and a dome on the transept. The nave is large (45 m long by 24 m wide), for this reason it is called the Cathedral of the Coast. The central nave is covered with a barrel vault with lunettes and the sides with an edge vault. The weight of the vaults rests on the perimeter walls reinforced with buttresses. The neoclassical façade of the 18th century has a wavy crown and a portal of classical lines with a crumbling niche with the image of Saint Nicholas of Bari and a rose window that illuminates the interior of the nave. Of note is the portal and the cladding of the central part in white-gray marble pieces. To the left of the façade is the massive, octagonal bell tower, also built in the 18th century, which remains unfinished.
Castle Tower
The history of this tower is linked to that of the castle of Palafolls, on which depended this force located on the seafront. It is a watchtower, dating from the fourteenth century (year 1285, according to the Libre de feyts d’armes de Catalunya, initially attributed to Bernat Boades, 1370-1444) and was probably surrounded by other enclosures built to defend the new nucleus of Vilanova de Palafolls. Due to its proximity to the Camino Real, it may have been affected by the Remences War (15th century). Currently the Castle Tower is the only Cultural Asset of National Interest listed in Malgrat de Mar. The last action carried out on the complex took place in 2002, on the occasion of the remodeling of the Castle Park, when the tower was renovated and consolidation, improvement and accessibility work was carried out.
The place, and probably the remaining tower, served in the 16th century as a watchtower against pirates and in the 17th century it functioned as a coastal battery. During an attack by the French on July 22, 1696, the castle suffered severe damage. The area continued to be a strategic location for the following centuries and during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) a coastal battery and a machine gun nest were established there. In the broken tower, the Republicans added tiles with wide loopholes at the top and, in the face of the sea, a hole was opened to place the machine guns. They also built shelters in front of the three semicircular walls where the artillery pieces rested. Of these shelters, only the half-buried entrance of one can be seen, the other remains buried as well as the middle facing.
These are the remains of a small tower (5-6 meters wide and with walls 70 cm thick) located on a plane of remarkable dimensions, from where you can enjoy a good view of the castles. of Palafolls and Blanes. This tower is the only remnant of a 14th-century castle fortress built of unworked medium stones, mixed with pieces of tile or lime mortar. Due to its dimensions, it was supposed to have been a secondary tower within the complex.
Town Hall
Modernist building with a Catalan roof of 19.50 meters in front, completely remodeled and currently intended for administrative services. We highlight the use of the ceramic trencadís and wrought iron typical of modernism, which are counteracted with a certain restraint and balance reminiscent of noucentisme. The original plans have not been preserved, but it is explained that they wanted to build an isolated building, with four facades, which protruded from the other neighboring buildings and also included the premises of the municipal court, which until then was they were in front of the Church Square along with the prison.
The façade is structured in three bodies. In the center stands the main balcony, covered with a canopy under which there was a stone shield with the symbol of the town, a castle-tower with a rampant lion, and where there is now the current shield. In the upper part of the central body there is a perforated head covered with green trencadís. On either side are two symmetrical bodies with two windows on each side crowned by oculi highlighted with semicircular arches and green pottery. At the top of the façade there were sgraffito with plant ornamentation and, at the bottom, a plinth made of Girona stone that is still preserved. Of the latest renovation, the helical metal staircase, which connects all the floors, should be highlighted.
On August 15, 1913, the City Hall building was inaugurated according to the plans made by the Barcelona architect Antoni de Falguera. This new building replaced the old Casa de la Vila, located on Carrer de Passe next to the rectory, which was a ground floor and first floor building with little light and ventilation which, according to the report of the municipal architect Juli Maria Fossas, was insufficient for a town with 4,000 inhabitants. In the municipal plenary session of November 12, 1908, Councilor Lluís Martí called for the creation of a new town hall. It was decided to create a commission and commission the project on March 9, 1909 to Antoni de Falguera i Sivilla, a student of Domènech i Montaner.
In order to carry out the work, there were plots of land, known as Can Xirau, which the City Council had previously bought in Carrer del Carme and Carrer Bellaire. In these estates, apart from building the Casa de la Vila, butchers also had to be built. Due to financial problems, the project was stopped, which was resumed in 1911 and completed in 1913. During the years 1952-1953 the first reforms were carried out with the installation of central heating in the offices and in 1991 the interior remodeling of the building was completed with the construction of the new main access staircase.
Old Fishmongers
Camil Oliveras’ project of 1890 marked a passage discovered as the current one that separated the butchers (on the wall of the Town Hall) from the fishmongers (where the original stones of the fish stalls are still preserved) and, theoretically, for where the carts that supplied the stops circulated. In this 250 m² space there had been a total of 12 stalls selling fish, meat and cooked vegetables. Its interior with its marble and wrought iron stalls from the 20th century should be highlighted.
As for the daily market, until the end of the 19th century it was quite disorganized, as stated in the report written by Camil Oliveras in 1890, which is part of the project to build butchers. In the early hours of the morning, vendors would stop where they could, and when the weather was bad, they often took advantage of the gates and entrances of the houses to take shelter. All these deficiencies led the City Council to consider the need to build a municipal market taking advantage of the fact that they had bought land at the end of Carrer Bellaire and next to Carrer del Carme to build the town hall.
Later, in 1926, it was decided to put a roof on the passage that had been uncovered until then and the whole area was sheltered. Popularly known as Peixateries Velles, they underwent a refurbishment in 1968 to adapt to the new times and accommodate other types of stalls, such as cooked and frozen vegetables. Until July 14, 1991, there were stalls for fish, meat and vegetables, which were then moved to the new facilities of the Municipal Market.
La Pilona
La Pilona is a symbol for Malgrat de Mar and is the most important vestige of the mining stage in the municipality. In 1909 a powerful French mining company created the Malgrat Iron Mine Society. This company invested very high capital to solve the infrastructure problems that had failed previous attempts. An air transport system was built using cables supported by metal towers, through which the iron-laden wagons moved. This transport system traveled a distance of about 1.5 km to reach the charging station, built on the platform of the Pilona. From this point, which is 450 m from the beach, the material was dumped directly into the hold of the boats.
On November 12, 1911, the first of the 21 shipments made began. In the first year 34,000 tons were transported (each ship’s cargo consisted of between 3,000 and 4,000 tons) which had England as their main destination. The miners numbered around 270 men, many of them from the region of Murcia, especially from a town called Ramonete, from where they emigrated en masse to come to work in this mine. When a ship arrived to load the material, about 4 or 5 men worked at the air loading station and about 8 did so on the Pylon platform. With the arrival of the First World War in 1914, the mines were closed for good after 21 shipments.
The Pilona is built on a massive masonry base. The structure supported an elongated platform where the pulleys where the cables turned were located. On top of this structure worked 8 workers who were in charge of emptying the wagons. The boats were moored on the banks of the Pilona or on some dead prepared for this purpose (the Malgratenc Hiking Group recovered one of the seabed in 1980, which is currently in Plaça de l’Àncora).
New Schools and Teachers’ Houses
The building, the work of the architect Mr. Juli M. Fossas, forms an interesting noucentista set. The school consists of three bodies: one of central (of ground floor and a floor) and two lateral bodies (of a single floor) that included / understood the classrooms with a pavilion for boys and one for girls, with the respective patios. The façade has decorative elements of ceramics, artificial stone and sgraffito. The Cases dels Mestres, with the main façade on Carrer Ramon Turró, are single-storey houses in the central body and one more floor in the side bodies.
On August 28, 1927, during the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, the mayor of Malgrat, Lluís de Caralt i Fors, inaugurated the schools with the assistance of the main provincial authorities. It was the first publicly owned building for schools. In 1928 the public schools became graduates: 3 sections for boys and 3 sections for girls, and in 1935 a new section for boys was obtained.
Casal dels Clapers
It was built at the end of the 16th century as a manor house, the residence of the noble Clapers family. In the 17th century it served as a blood hospital and in the 18th century it passed into the hands of the Barcelona family of the Mercaders, who joined the counts of Bell-lloc in the 19th century. In 1886 it became the headquarters of the Casino Malgratense. In 1921, a workers ‘and peasants’ cooperative was founded with a ballroom, café, library and reading room. In 1929, it was formally established as the headquarters of the La Malgratense Consumer Workers’ Cooperative. At the end of January 1939 the combatant armies in the Civil War passed through Malgrat de Mar, when the definitive collapse of the republican army took place, after the battle of the Ebro.
Ground floor house, floor and attic. Of note are the vaulted stone portal with a noble coat of arms, the balconies and the defensive sentries at the corners. This building has undergone many modifications since its construction in the 16th century. At that time it was built with a square floor plan, three wings and an open central space, initially intended for agriculture and storage and where there had been a well. In the early 19th century, four buckets were built that housed an oil-making area (one of these buckets is preserved and exhibited in the exhibition hall).
In the middle of the 19th century, five solid brick arches were built in the central space of the building that supported a corridor at the level of the first floor, allowing this central space to continue to be discovered. Finally, the courtyard was covered and in 1886 the Casino Malgratense built a ballroom, which was renovated again and completely in 1929, when the cooperative society Malgratense installed its headquarters in the building. The complete remodeling of the Clapers house for its current use took place in 1998, when the City Council decided to turn it into the library that still exists today.
Old Hospital and Chapel
The hospital, on the ground floor and first floor, has a simple façade with a balcony. The chapel has a lintel portal, a circular opening and a small crowning belfry. On the high altar was a baroque altarpiece dedicated to Saints Cosmas and Damian, restored in the early twentieth century. In the Passatge dels Arcs, between the Old Hospital and the neighboring house, we see three arches that possibly correspond to the remains of old hospital outbuildings.
On December 29, 1441, Hug Descolomer provided in the will for the foundation of a hospital in Vilanova de Palafolls (formerly called Malgrat de Mar) as a refuge for the poor of Jesus Christ and the sick in the region and established that the institution it had to be governed by the workers of the parish of Sant Genís de Palafolls. In 1892, the Josephine nuns came to serve in the hospital, the work of the architects Joan and Dionís Torres, at the request of the regent of Sant Genís. In 1970 the nuns, due to the poor condition of the hospital, decided to move to the Nazareth Medical Center and, in 1979, the psychiatrist Valentí Agustí founded the building of the old hospital the Therapeutic Community of Malgrat.
Next to the Old Hospital we find the Chapel, which has its own importance. This circumstance is explained by the fact that in July 1873, by order of Bishop Constantí de Girona, the figure of the Blessed Sacrament was moved there, because the parish church was occupied by liberal troops. During that civil war (the Third Carlist War) sacred functions were held in the chapel. In 1890 he was granted continuous reservation of the Blessed Sacrament. This chapel is currently desecrated and various exhibitions and talks are organized throughout the year.
Tower of Ca L’arnau
This house, which was built on a plot of 16.50 m by 52 m, has a rectangular floor plan and currently measures 8.5 m by 18.20 m. It is modernist in style and was designed by the municipal architect of Badalona Sr. Joan Amigó i Barriga. There are the curvilinear elements and the shape of the building, the stucco moldings, horizontal relief bands, the sgraffito, the vegetal decorative details with stone, the glazed ceramics, as well as the corbels and roof-forming beams.. The entrance on the corner of Carrer Bellaire stands out for its stone-patterned stone porch, lobed shapes and ironwork on the grate. Inside, the cupboards and the pictorial ornamentation of tiled ceilings and walls are preserved.
In 1914, Mr. Joan Arnau Majoral had this modernist house built as a family home. The house, now known as Ca l’Arnau, was known as the house of the Holy Christ. According to tradition, the image of the Holy Christ had been found in this house and later ceded to the parish. Over time, the house passed into the hands of the new family generations of Ca l’Arnau, until the last owners, Pere Puig and Neus Ros, sold it to the City Council. In 1999 a comprehensive renovation was carried out on the building to turn it into a Municipal School of Music and it is currently the headquarters of several municipal offices.
Can Sala Widow’s Tower
This house, which was built on a plot of 15 m with a façade by 52 m in depth, has a rectangular floor plan of 8 by 17 m. Its compositional order and ornamental elements should be highlighted: crowning the walls that cut stepped shapes finished with ceramics and curved shapes, framed and ornamented openings with stone reliefs with rich floral motifs, and façade cladding with moldings of ‘stucco, horizontal and sgraffito relief bands. Also noteworthy is the magnificent wrought iron work of the corrugated railings and the crowning of the octagonal tower, with a circular roof finished in a point and covered with a mosaic of colors.
This tower is part of a group of houses that were built in the town during the first years of the twentieth century for the wealthiest people of Malgrat de Mar society or for Barcelona holidaymakers who spent seasons in Malgrat de Mar. The Torre de la vídua de Can Sala was built by order of Josefa Garriga Anglada in 1909. At the same time, she bought the farm next door which became a knitwear factory, later in the Hotel Bombay and which is currently the Malgrat Municipal Archive.
The architect of the tower was Esteve Rocafort i Carreras from Blanes. In 1928, the two estates were acquired by Mr. Francesc Serra Bonet. During the Civil War the house was confiscated by the Local Committee of Anti-Fascist Militias and was assigned as a dispensary and home to Dr. Brull. At the end of the war the tower was used by the Phalange. In 1942 the Riera Oliveras family acquired the two estates. In the early 1960s, the family renovated the estate next to the tower to build the Bombay Hotel.
Other examples
Torre d’en Riera. Modernist style manor house dating from 1909. It was acquired by the City Council and restored to house municipal offices.
Can Campassol. A real lung and privileged green space, it housed a colonial house where Zenobia Camprubí, wife of the Nobel Prize for Literature Juan Ramón Jiménez, spent some summers in the first years of her life. Zenobia has a dedicated statue.
La Pilona. From the new promenade, heading south, in the middle of the sea, there is a small artificial island called La Pilona. It is a platform that served, at the beginning of the twentieth century, as a point of embarkation of the iron ore of the mines of Can Palomeres that, from the mountain, reached the sea through metal towers or a system of wagons.
Tower of the Back. designed by Juli M. Fossas in 1895, promoted by Josep Prats Roura. In 1910 it was owned by Emili Regull and in 1945 it was acquired by Clara Sureda, wife of Salvador Esquena. It consists of ground floor, first floor and roof. The façade shows a set of ornamental elements of an academic nature, such as the semicircular pediments on the lintels, the balcony with balusters, the sculpted moldings or the openwork roof railing. From the back you can see the tower crowned with a glazed ceramic dome.
Plaça de Marià Cubí. Inaugurated on July 18, 1956, it has a monument dedicated to the illustrious Malgratenc, phrenologist and linguist, Marià Cubí i Soler.
Montserrat Schools. Opened in August 1927, they are the work of the architect Juli Maria Fossas i Martínez, author of several modernist houses in Barcelona. The façade has been recently restored.
Public space
Parks are meeting places, where the relationship between people becomes possible. In Malgrat de Mar, open parks have been created in the different neighborhoods that surround them in order to enhance this function as a social link and at the same time an attempt has been made to make these spaces attractive to anyone who visits them.
Francesc Macià Park
Francesc Macià is one of the most popular attractions in the Maresme and an enclosed park that guarantees the safety of the little ones and the tranquility of those who accompany them. There are areas with different uses, such as a space for skateboards, areas for sensory games, shelters and children’s games and dolls that create a magical and unique atmosphere. The park welcomes around 10,000 children a year on scheduled visits to schools and summer camps and almost 100,000 more people who visit it freely. he park has multipurpose areas and spaces: sports area, children’s play area, picnic area and amphitheater.
Castle Park
The Castle Park is located on a hill, from where you can see a wonderful view of the whole town. The park has been, since its creation, a common recreation and leisure area for different sectors of the population, with free access and a framework for multiple cultural activities. Children’s play areas and walking routes with botanical content have been installed. The Castell Park has hosted sardana gatherings on several occasions, the festivities in the Verneda district, concerts and popular festivals, among the most outstanding events.
Can Campassol Park
Privileged green space that housed a colonial house where the writer Zenobia Camprubí was born, with whom she married the Nobel Prize for Literature Juan Ramón Jiménez. In this house, which unfortunately is no longer preserved today, she spent her childhood summers. The park currently houses a large play area for the little ones, a psychomotor space for the elderly and the Retirement Home. Can Campassol Park is the scene of many concerts, outdoor performances and other activities.
Church Square
Located in the center of the town, right in front of the church of Sant Nicolau, is a meeting place to talk in the shade of bananas. Due to its location and importance, it hosts various events throughout the year, such as lighting lights for Christmas or other activities, as well as trade fair and market stalls. At one time, the Church Square had been part of the first cemetery in the town, as it was customary to bury the dead in the vicinity of the parish church.
Xesco Boix Square
This square is named after Francesc Boix i Masramon, Xesco Boix, a Catalan musician, animator and singer of folk and children’s song, known as Malgrat de Mar. The square is located at the end of Passeig de Mar, between Malgrat Center beach and La Conca beach. It has basketball hoops and is the scene of various events, especially in summer, such as the traditional Cantada d’Havaneres in August or the dinner and dance of the Revetlla de Sant Joan.
Josep Anselm Clavé Square
It is popularly known as Plaça de la Barretina, because it is the headquarters of the La Barretina Vermella Cultural and Recreational Society, the longest-running entity in Malgrat de Mar and one of the first of its kind in Catalonia. As an emblematic space of the town, and with an unbeatable situation, the traditional summer sardana dances, concerts in the evenings and various events are held there. From Josep Anselm Clavé Square, access to the lift will take you to the Castle Park.
Natural Spaces
Malgrat de Mar is characterized by tranquility and a very extensive beach. But it is not just that, as it also has several natural spaces of considerable environmental value that allow you to walk, while enjoying a unique and unbeatable landscape.
Degree vegetable garden
Large protected agricultural area where garden products such as potatoes, lettuce, endives, tomatoes and green beans are grown, among others. The marketing of garden products in the area of Malgrat de Mar (Pla de Pineda and Pla de Grau) and other agricultural land in Palafolls, Santa Susanna and Blanes is led by the Cooperativa Agrícola Progrés-Garbí. This cooperative was born in 1992, as a result of the union of the cooperatives in the El Progrés and Garbí area.
Two of the star products of this vegetable garden are crochet beans and endive: Fesol del Ganxet has been included in the Community list of products with a protected designation of origin (PDO). Most of the production is sold directly to markets and restaurants. The morphological characteristics of crochet beans are the main cover letter. According to experts, each specimen should be flat, white and with a very marked hook shape. Malgrat de Mar exports approximately four million endives a year, whose main destination is the French market.
Delta of the Tordera River
The river Tordera rises at an altitude of 1,100 m in Sant Marçal (Montseny massif), between the Turó de l’Home and the Matagalls. After traveling about 61 km, it empties into the sea forming a small delta between the municipalities of Malgrat de Mar and Blanes, which forms the boundary between the province of Girona and Barcelona.
The mouth of the Tordera is a space of high ecological value that houses a large number of habitats and animal and plant species typical of coastal aquatic environments. It is a strategic point as a place of wintering and rest during the migratory steps of a multitude of birds and is one of the natural spaces with more biodiversity and power of attraction of all the municipalities that surround it. In addition, the Delta changes its appearance every year, as the sea and river currents are what create and transform the path of the river mouth.
Dunes of the Basin
The dune area of La Conca beach is a protected area, thanks to the dune morphology, but above all to the flora and fauna that exist. In 2001, in fact, a plan was initiated for the recovery of dune vegetation, made up largely of psammophilous species, the presence of which is indicative of the good state of conservation of the environment.
Psammophilic plants, exclusive to sandy environments, have a high ecological value, as they have very special physiological adaptations that allow them to survive on the beach and its conditions. They have developed, for example, mechanisms to reduce freshwater consumption and the effects of salt and high solar radiation, and long horizontal roots or rhizomes to ensure vegetative (asexual) reproduction and gain stability in a windy environment. The roots of these plants also encourage the appearance of dunes, so characteristic of this environment. Some of them have medicinal properties such as blood sausage, sea urchin, echinophore or belt, as well as current culinary uses such as sea fennel, or old ones such as vinaigrette.
This vegetation, on the other hand, can also be affected by storms, which cover it with salt water or sand, but which sometimes also provide seeds from other species transported by the sea. The storms of 2003, for example, affected part of the protected area, but left two species that had been extinct for decades from this beach and almost the entire region: the sea bream and the marine dairy.
Beaches
Malgrat de Mar enjoys a benign climate for much of the year. We invite you to spend a day of sun and beach with the family. More than 4.5 km of beaches await you. You can sunbathe, swim, make sand castles with the little ones, contemplate the native vegetation of the dunes, learn about the historical past of the town through the Pilona, take part in the activities organized from the children’s playroom, play sports in the squares… On our four beaches you will find surveillance and lifeguard services, walkways for the disabled, adapted toilets, showers and bins.
Beach Of The Shipyard
In front of the hotel area, it is the busiest in summer. In the heart of the hotel area you will find this beach with a good tourist and leisure atmosphere, surrounded by beach bars, picnic areas and other offers to spend a good day at the beach with the family. This beach has been awarded the Blue Flag distinction.
Malgrat Center Beach
In front of the city center you will find the beach of Malgrat Center. This beach is the most frequented by most of the inhabitants of Malgrat de Mar, so you will find a calmer atmosphere, of families who use the beach as a more playful space in the municipality. She has also been awarded the Blue Flag.
La Conca Beach
This beach is the longest in Malgrat and reaches the old carabinieri barracks (currently a restaurant). It is an ideal beach for nature lovers as it is one of the few points of contact between the countryside and the beaches in the province of Barcelona. You will find an almost unspoilt beach, with few people and few services for those who want to enjoy the beach in peace. You can also enjoy the protected area of the Dunes, with native flora that blooms during the spring. This vegetation, of the psammophilous family, has a great ecological and landscape value.
Punta de la Tordera Beach
The beach of Punta de la Tordera is located in front of the entire camping area of Malgrat de Mar and reaches the mouth of the river Tordera. The latter is a protected area, where nature lovers can observe a wide variety of birds and enjoy the flora of the Delta. Last January 2020, the Delta and the entire Degree Plan suffered the effects of the storm Gloria, which changed the appearance of this beach. At the moment the Delta enjoys a natural sand barrier that has formed a lagoon at the mouth, favoring the appearance of a wide variety of bird species that had not been observed for years. For this reason, access to this beach has been closed, in order to protect our biodiversity. You can find a flat-footed observatory that will allow you to discover and observe at a distance the richness of life in the La Tordera Delta, so as not to interfere with the recovery of this natural space.