When the thousand times seen landscapes of Tuscany come to mind we think of cypresses, wheat fields, olive trees and vineyards. Well, you don’t have to go to Italy to enjoy these dreamlike landscapes.
TO just two hours from Barcelonathe Empordà (Ampurdán, in Spanish), is the getaway that your spring needs to visit villages full of medieval charm, to discover a first-rate olive culture or to enjoy some of the great wines of the area in this pair of regions in the northeast of Girona, bordering with France and the Mediterranean Sea.
Also to enjoy an area famous for its rice dishes and, of course, to take trips to its delicious coastline. The Costa Brava thus becomes the magnet with which Girona attracts the Empordà.
You may arrive here for the beaches, but once you also discover its charming interior you will understand that there is a whole life beyond in Spanish Tuscany where pleasure is on every side you look.
A duplicate Empordà
Two ways to enjoy the Empordà awaits, since we find both the Alt Empordà as the Baix Empordàconverted into two different regions but which naturally have many links on this border that Spain marks with France.
Forged between fishing villages and also peasants, the Empordà presents inland towns where time seems to have stopped in the Middle Ages, with cobblestones like those found in Pals or those waiting in La Bisbal d’Emporda.
Also, of course, the sea rules. Towns like Cadaqués, Roses or Calella de Palafrugell are the blue testimony of a seafaring life that dresses in white and indigo and still surprises today with its fishing village aesthetic.
No less relevant is make a stop in Figueresthe hometown of Salvador Dali, genius of surrealism and one of the greatest exponents of Spanish art. The Dalí Museum awaits here, where most of his works are found. That does not mean that Figueres is only Dalí, of course, because the Castle of San Fernando or the church of Sant Pere
A more than tasty Empordà
The Empordà is not only famous for its wines, which deserves the concept of Spanish Tuscanybut also for its orchards, where it is common to find aubergines, onions or the famous pepper bitxoa particularity of the area.
However, and although many people are unaware of it, one of the most appreciated treasures of the Ampurdán is the rice of Pals, since in this small town some of the best rice dishes in the whole country are made. We are also talking about an area that has become internationally known for its red prawns, especially those of Palamós.
The sea also offers some of the most valued salted anchovies in Spainas are the anchovies from L’Escala, which often share the backdrop with a cured meat tradition where butifarras, bulls and other Catalan sausages are especially famous.
All rounded off by the omnipresence of extra virgin olive oilwhich has the DOP Aceite de L’Empordà/Oli de l’Empordà, especially those made with the varieties argudell, corivell or verdal, and arbequina, which are perfect for making a pantumaca with pear and tomato Tramontana bread.
Images | iStock / Empordà Tourism
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