Palamós

Palamós
Municipality
View of Palamós from the beach of Sant Antoni de Calonge
Coat of arms
Palamós Palamós Palamós
Coordinates: 41°51′00″N 3°07′45″E
Country	Spain
Community	Catalonia
Province	Girona
Comarca	Baix Empordà
Government
• Mayor	Lluis Puig Martorell (2015)
Area
• Total	14.0 km2 (5.4 sq mi)
Elevation	30 m (100 ft)
Population  (2018)
• Total	17,898
• Density	1,300/km2 (3,300/sq mi)
Demonym	Catalan: Palamosí (m) Palamosina (f)
Website	www.palamos.cat

Palamós (Catalan pronunciation: [pələˈmos]) is a town and municipality in the Mediterranean Costa Brava, located in the comarca of Baix Empordà, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain.

History

The first evidence of human settlement is the Dolmen de Montagut, on the top of Montagut hill, which only has 3 slabs in its original state and the remains of a tomb that these it covered.

Evidence exists of an early settlement lies around 1.7 kilometres (1.1 mi) north-east of the town, on a rocky promontory at the north end of Platja de Castell beach. The Castell de la Fosca is a stone settlement of the Iberian Indigetes people which seems to have been inhabited from the 6th century BC to the 1st century AD, and was the second most important Indiget city after Ullastret.

Further south than the Castell de la Fosca, but still north of the current town and port, is the Castell de Sant Esteve de Mar. Archaeological evidence suggests that this site was occupied from the Roman period, and that the site was fortified in the twelfth century AD. By the thirteenth century, Peter II of Barcelona (also known as Peter III of Aragon) was looking to found a new port on the coast as the previous royal port in the region at Torroella de Montgrí on the River Ter had silted up. In 1277, he bought the castle and its estate, which included the site of the current port, with that in mind. As a consequence of the purchase, Palamos was founded and recognised as a village on 3 December 1279.

The port of the current Palamós was used during the pre-Roman and Roman eras, but it went into disuse until Peter III in 1277 commissioned the purchase of the castle of Sant Esteve, built on Roman remains, or bought land which gave Astruc Ravaia to develop a new population center from the Pobla Charter. On August 28 and September 3 and 4, 1285, during the reign of Peter III, near the Formigues Islands, the Catalan stolen, commanded by Admiral Roger de Llúria, won the French from Philip III the Ardit.

Features

Palamós is located at the northern end of a large bay, which is popular for sailing, swimming and windsurfing. The town is by-passed by the C31 which connects the coastal towns of the central Costa Brava with Girona. Palafrugell lies 8.5 km to the north and Castell-Platja d'Aro 7 km to the south.

The town is a major port (with the closure of Sant Feliu the only commercial harbour in the Province of Girona) with one of the last remaining fishing fleets on this part of the Mediterranean coast. It is famous for the locally caught prawns from Palamós (Catalan: gambes).

The town's major economic activities until the second half of the 20th century were fishing and cork manufacturing. In the sixties, however, the town saw a rapid growth of tourism. The architecture of Palamos itself remained relatively unchanged with most development focused to the south at Sant Antoni de Calonge which now merges with Palamos. The town's nightlife is focused on the old port which is surrounded by bars and restaurants.

Palamós is a staging point on the GR 92 long distance footpath, which runs the length of the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Stage 8, to the north, follows the cliffs to the beach at La Fosca before taking an inland route to Calella de Palafrugell and then following the coast again through Llafranc, Tamariu and Fornells de Mar to the next staging point at Begur. Stage 9, to the south, follows the beachfront promenade to Sant Antoni de Calonge and then the coast through Platja d'Aro and S'Agaró to the next staging point at Sant Feliu de Guíxols.

The town is home to Palamós CF the local football club. They share their ground, the Estadi Palamós Costa Brava with the small, but over-achieving club UE Llagostera, as the club's stadium, Estadi Municipal de Llagostera, didn't meet the LFP criteria.

It was the birthplace of Frederic Pujulà i Vallès who was a pioneer of Esperanto literature.

Gallery

• 
  Palamós
• 
  The port; in the background a forest fire near Platja d’Aro
• 
  The church Santa Maria del Mar

Cala S'Alguer, Palamós

See also

• Prawns from Palamós

References

• Panareda Clopés, Josep Maria; Rios Calvet, Jaume; Rabella Vives, Josep Maria (1989). Guia de Catalunya, Barcelona: Caixa de Catalunya. ISBN 84-87135-01-3 (Spanish). ISBN 84-87135-02-1 (Catalan).

External links

• Official website
• Government data pages (in Catalan)