Beyond Dali Written by Simon Newman
Photographed by Simon Newman and Ecki Schultz
The town of Figueres, in Spain’s north-east province of
Catalunya, is best known for that cathedral of wackiness- the
Dali museum, but a bit of exploration will soon take you off the
beaten track and provide an authentic fix of Spanish street culture.
For me the first point of call in any Spanish city is a Cortado
- a strong espresso and dash of hot milk. You could choose from
many good cafés on the newly refurbished Ramblas, amongst
a mêlée of students, business people, local families
and visitors alike, but a short walk down one of the side streets
will bring you to the splendidly arcane Café L’Aeora.
Situated in the old casino building, it has a wonderful faded
elegance with its high ceilings, marble columns and huge, lazily
turning ceiling fans straight out of an old Bogart movie. The
prevailing ambience comes from a mixture of flirting youngsters,
texting each other across the dark mahogany tables, together with
old-timer domino players, puffing on strange yellow cheroots (which
seem to remain alight but permanently one-inch long), arguing
and generally setting the world to rights in Catalan.
Now here’s a thing; litter bins. That's right, litter bins.
The new Ramblas, in the heart of Figueres, has been provided with
plenty of seating (strong, solid teak benches and even some individual
teak armchairs) so your people-watching can be taken in relaxed
mode, plus loads of proper good old-fashioned litter bins. It’s
not until you think about it when you realise security measures
have meant that such things have all but disappeared in most city
centres around the world. Naturally the Spanish themselves wouldn’t
dream of actually using them. Cigarette packets are best left
discarded on the pavement to make it easier for the street cleaners
to spot them, but at least tourists can feel suitably worthy when
they put the bins to their intended purpose.
Art is at the centre of Figueres although you don’t have
to like Dali, or indeed know anything about art to enjoy a visit
to Figueres’s famous museum. Just go with an open mind and
be prepared to experience the shock of the New - even though many
of the exhibits are a half a century old.
The guidebook will tell you that Dali’s tomb is actually
resting in the museum itself although I secretly think that this
was just one of his mischievous jokes. My guess is that he pre-sold
his mortal flesh, and that the real corpse is pickled in a display
cabinet in some private collection in Buenos Aries where the touch
of a button activates a rascally wink of the eye.
Street theatre is alive and well in early-evening Figueres and
I don’t mean some white-painted student wrapped in a sheet
who will reveal a yellow-toothed grimace when prompted by coinage,
or the “tackle-out on demand” flasher I saw recently
alongside the Charlie Chaplins and Michael Jacksons on Barcelona’s
Ramblas. No, Figueres has the real deal. A proper little ten minute
show given by an energetic and talented couple in the Plaza de
Ayuntamiento. The man carries in front of him a human-sized puppet
in the style of a 1950’s Havana nightclub schmoozy-crooner,
attached at the knees and hands. He is partnered by a young woman
with a dusky Diva puppet looking scarily like Tina Turner on a
bad-hair day.
They sing and dance provocatively, backed by infectious Cuban
dance music, with great humour and gusto to the gawping gallery
of kids that soon form the front row. The extraordinary thing
is that although there are visibly humans doing the work behind
the puppets, such is the power of the performance that your mind
blots them out and you begin to believe they really do have a
life of their own.
Restaurants abound in Figueres and aside from the more obvious
tourist-orientated establishments there are some excellent tapas
bars and bodegas. For Tapas, try the Lizzaran just down the road
from the Ramblas where cool Barcelona interior design meets Basque
cuisine. You settle up at the end by handing in the cocktail sticks
that accompany each serving, and at less than 2 euros per item,
it’s great value. I particularly liked the tortilla with
smoked salmon, and the herbed cream cheese with raisins and almonds.
But beware, they look and taste so darn good that those cocktail
sticks soon mount up – “did we really eat that
much?”
Should you wander off to Figueres’s southern end you will
find yourself in the Arab quarter where the shops and restaurants
reflect the locals’ distinctive ethnic tastes. Colourful
embroidered silks, dark latticed furniture, vegetables and pulses
you can’t quite identify and tray after tray of pungent
spices. There’s definitely a whiff of the exotic in the
air – it’s nearly as good as a day’s excursion
to Morocco.
The architecture on Ramblas itself is a real treat for the eye.
The buildings mostly consist of rather grand five or six storey
former merchants houses in a 1920’s south-American colonial
style. They’re replete with beautiful pastel-painted wooden
shutters, grand wedding-cake columns, overly ornate ironwork railings,
and hugely self-important balconies.
Ignore the gaudy Banks that occupy most of the ground floor frontages,
look up through half-closed eyes and you can almost see Eva Peron
tearfully basking in the adoring glow from the massed throng gathered
outside the Casa Rosada, calling “Eva, Eva, Eva”.
Figueres has a feel and style all of its own and sees no need
to demur to its better known neighbours further south. It is prospering
and confident and it shows in shops, restaurants and in the faces
of the business people hurrying by. I use the term hurrying of
course in its broadest sense – this is still Spain after
all and there is always time for a glass of Rioja and a morsel
or three of tapas between those important meetings.
Spain has become one of our most popular topics. If you enjoyed
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Simon Newman
is a freelance travel and features writer living in Catalunya,
close to the French/Spanish border. "I love straddling
two cultures. My passion is in people and the way they relate
to the world as they see it. Human fragility and eccentricity
provide eternal colour to my canvas. For me, it's what makes
life interesting."
