Cap de Creus, in the Alt Empordà Natural Park, is where the Mediterranean Sea and the Pyrenees, two great titans, come together. Adiva Koenigsberg visited this 13,886-hectare reserve, accompanied by Josep Espigulé on land and José Mercado at sea.
Josep Espigulé, a former director of the Aiguamolls de l’Empordà, is an expert and passionate admirer of the area, while Captain Mercado works for Serveis Marítims Promar. Together, they reveal the secrets and hidden corners of Cap de Creus.
In the photo above: The Quermançó castle, where the painter Salvador Dalí wanted to place an organ that would emit music powered by the powerful force of the Tramuntana wind. “Now a man has bought this castle to promote Dalí's idea, for the moment without luck,” Espigulé explains.
Eleven thousand meters later
Images of quartz veins. This material protrudes to the surface from a depth of eleven kilometers.
A beautiful death trap
On the north coast of Cap de Creus we find the Mar d'Amunt and a bay sheltered from all winds. This bay is also a death trap for the most inexperienced sailors or those unaware of the strength of the Tramuntana. There have been eight shipwrecks, seven in Roman times and one in the Middle Ages.
The Rabbit
In 1961, the park had 400 white bungalows that formed a private club with a disco, bars and restaurants. When Cap de Creus was declared a natural park in 1998, Club Med was closed and expropriated and finally – in 2003 – dismantled stone by stone. In the image, the rock called El Conill, in the area of the park known as Paratge de Tudela.
Cala Culip
One of the spaces in the park, which Carles Fages de Climent highlighted in the poem "Dreams of Cap de Creus". Some say that it was Salvador Dalí who suggested the idea for this vast poem, in which the gods of Olympus take possession of the mineral landscape of Cap de Creus.
The great rock of the Eagle
Sea water and wind work together to end up forming and modulating the rocks of the park. In the image, the great rock of l'Àliga.
Transparent water
The natural park allows for transparent waters. In the image, a swimmer at Cap de Creus.
A 5,500-year-old mystery
The mysterious engravings seen on these stones reveal an impressive variety of holes, crosses and lines. Located in a forest on the road to Sant Pere de Rodes, Espigulé explains that no one has yet been able to decipher what looks like a map, a GPS from 5,500 years ago.
The cave of hell
This rock is called Hell's Rock because of the yellowish color that the sea water takes on when the sun rises.
Saved!
The Culip hut is a fisherman's shelter that has been used by fishermen since Roman times. Thanks to this shelter, you can avoid the two prevailing winds, the garbí and the tramuntana.
Cadaqués at the end of the day
The day begins. It's six or seven-thirty in the morning, and Cadaqués is bathed in the first light of day.
Pep Espigule
Josep Espigulé (1956). Born in Alt Empordà. Educator and former director of the Aiguamolls de l'Empordà natural park. Poet and enthusiast of nature observation and conservation.
Funerary dolmen of La Talaia
One of the three dolmens on the road to Sant Pere de Roda is this megalithic funerary structure.
Saint Helena
Church of Saint Helena, built in the 9th century, with the light of a quarter past seven in the evening bathing it.
Against wind and drought
They are called flag trees because they grow against the force of the wind, which modulates their shape. The tree in the image has also had to overcome years of drought.
The Great Masturbator
In the image, the white Cavallera rock, known as the Great Masturbator by the painter Salvador Dalí.
Port of Roses
The houses climb to the tip of the coast at the port of Roses, while the sun sets behind them.
The mermaid and the shepherd
In Sant Pere de Roda (pictured), the mermaid and the shepherd are the only sculptures found in the tower, journalist Jordi Mestres explains. “The shepherd,” he says, “had a lush beard and she had long hair and two tails that she coquettishly parted with her hands. Our mermaids are much more carnal, for example, than the Danish ones, who come from a colder sea and have a single tail.”
Cadaqués by the sea
Like so many other places on the coast, the views of the water make Cadaqués a particularly beautiful space.
Cala Jugadora
According to Josep Pla, in Cala Jugadora is where we see the greatness of nature and the smallness of man.
Meditation in front of the sea
A woman meditates and contemplates the beauty of the landscape at quarter past six in the morning. At nine o'clock the first buses will bring tourists to the park. Now is the time for calm.