Pleasures of Altafulla

We are in the middle of the second century.

Caius Valerius Avitus,

from Tarraco —Roman public office, similar to that of the consul, in the colonial and municipal sphere of the Empire—, scans the horizon from his opulent residence.

He has in front of him a bright and calm Mediterranean, and from the portico of the first floor he reflects on how the emperor himself, Antonino Pio, sent him to that place to be the guarantor of imperial authority.

About him there are certainties and some mystery: there is evidence that he had carried out his duties in his native Augustóbriga (in Soria);

also, that his recent promotion was related to preventing an attempt at an imperial conspiracy by Cornelius Priscianus, senator and governor of Hispania Citerior who wanted an uprising and establish his own government in the Iberian Peninsula.

Eighteen centuries later, we can imagine a similar scene when stepping on the Roman villa of Els Munts, located in the town of Altafulla, about 15 kilometers from Tarragona.

There was the luxurious home that Caius enjoyed with his wife, Faustina, who are embodied through the theatrical visits organized by the National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona.

A fantastic opportunity to learn about the daily life of that couple in one of the places that, in 2000, UNESCO declared world heritage, within the Archaeological Ensemble of Tarraco.

The town had gardens, baths and mosaics, as it began to be discovered thanks to some excavations begun in 1967, and it was located next to the Via Augusta - the longest Roman road in Hispania, which ran from the Pyrenees to Cádiz -, name that continues to receive the most important street in Altafulla.

cova fernández

In it you will find the best accommodation to settle in this coastal town, especially if you are traveling as a family, with a quiet atmosphere, shallow waters and an outstanding sandy area, year after year, with the blue flag, a distinctive of beach quality.

It is the Altafulla Mar hotel, a beautiful architectural structure that reflects exquisite taste in all its spaces, whether in the rooms - depending on the reservation, with access to a heated pool in the attic, with views of both the old town and the sea - or in its four restaurants that propose very different offers for the guest or the general public;

Among them, Suko, commanded by a Peruvian-Japanese chef who offers the best of both countries, and Aromatic, a commitment to flexiterian food, which combines very careful vegetarian dishes with others that provide animal protein.

Jordi Ferré, director of Altafulla Mar, has created a comprehensive hotel project in which you can enjoy live music on Friday and Saturday nights or exhibitions of painters on the walls, and that makes it easier for visitors to engage in activities in the forests or the sea.

This is the case of Club Marítim Altafulla, very close to there, which offers

, catamaran or sailing

courses

, and gives the opportunity to have fun kayaking or

.

This fabulous way of feeling the seascape can be complemented with other land initiatives, such as the seven routes suggested by the local tourist office (Vía Augusta, 34; 977 65 14 26), through which it is possible to get to know

, a monumental tree with an estimated age of more than 600 years, on the way to the town of Torredembarra.

Also the natural space of the mouth of the Gayá River, with its protected fauna and vegetation, in which a large number of small birds stand out (plover plover, grebe, kingfisher) that live in very diverse habitats and squirrels, numerous in the crowns of the white pine forests;

or contemplate the so-called dry stone barracks, constructions made in a traditional way that served as shelter and agricultural warehouses.

And is that Altafulla is an unbeatable corner to discover centuries-old traditions, as reflected in its Ethnographic Museum (Camí de l'Ermita, 10), which collects elements of the rural life of the municipality: about 1,000 pieces - from a curious waterwheel of blood even the typical hoes — from the last two centuries that were recovered and restored by a neighbor and craftsman, Salvador Gatell.

And if we continue to delve into the past of the town, we can always take a guided visit to the Maritime neighborhood, which evokes how small warehouses were built during the 18th century where fishermen kept their work tools and merchants stored products destined for the colonies, and that were transformed into summer houses.

enlarge photo Altafulla castle, original from 1059. Xavi Gómez getty images

Between walls

You should also stroll around Vila Closa, the old medieval nucleus declared in 1998 a cultural asset of national interest by the Generalitat of Catalonia.

It is mainly made up of the old walls - Altafulla was founded as a consequence of the campaigns of Ramón Berenguer I in the 11th century -;

the church of Sant Martí, from the early eighteenth century, and the castle of Altafulla, original from 1059, a large building with a polygonal plan in the center of which there is an interior patio where a Renaissance gallery stands out and that it is possible to know in depth through a visit guided.

Next to it is the luxurious hotel Gran Claustre, Restaurant & Spa, which remodeled a part of the old town when it opened its doors about 20 years ago, to the point that it was given the name of "monument hotel", and which has with a restaurant recommended in the Michelin guide: Bruixes de Burriac, by chef Jaume Drudis.

In any walk, then, the remote past bursts into a town that also bears witness to several cycles of music each year: jazz, emerging artists, author songs or even an international one, with nights of piano and poetry;

and also another theater —Escena Altafulla— between Els Munts and Voramar park.

In addition to the Nit de Bruixes, a witch fair with an esoteric market that turns Vila Closa into an enchanted town, and a living Stations of the Cross at Easter.

The cultural agenda opens to various gastronomic days, such as the Fiesta de la Olla - a typical dish made with rabbit, chicken and pork with potatoes and chickpeas, with the addition of a special romesco sauce, and many other events that make Altafulla is a most attractive destination beyond the high summer season.

But if summer invites you to visit this jewel of the Costa Daurada - a name, explains Ferré, which comes from the color of the rocks at sunset -, nothing better than going to the Voramar restaurant (Pons d'Icart street), unbeatable to taste a paella a few meters from the beach.

A place specializing in traditional seafood cuisine run by the Nicolás family: the father, Xavier, and the mother, Gemma, are in charge of the dining rooms and the stove, while the diner can enjoy the gastronomic expertise of their daughter, the chef. Sara Nicolás, who in recent years has received recognition for her elaborate tapas and the first prize Best Rice in Spain 2017, which prompted her to be known in the sector since there are usually no free chairs at their tables, even in this pandemic period.

Toni Montesinos

is the author of 'The fruit of diverse life.

Articles on North American Literature '(University of Valencia).

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