Figueres will once again experience the spectacle of the Volta a Catalunya 56 years later. The capital of Alt Empordà has been the protagonist as a Volta city on thirty-nine occasions, closing the top 10 of cities that have hosted the start or finish of a stage of the Catalan race. Twenty times it has hosted a stage finish, and it has even hosted the great start of the Catalan race in 1969, which coincidentally was the last time the city hosted the Volta (a stage finish in Empuriabrava with victory for Cipirano Chemello). The first stage start dates back to 1923, while the last time Figueres hosted a Volta stage finish was in 1968, a stage won by Belgian Roger Swerts. The capital of Alt Empordà has seen other famous winners such as the Catalan legends Muç Miquel (1924 and 1925) and Miquel Poblet (1949 and 1951) or the Dutchman Jan Janssen (1967), winner of a Tour de France.
-
Region: Alt Empordà
-
Population (2024, Idescat): 48.670
Related websites:
- Turisme: www.visitfigueres.cat
- Ajuntament de Figueres: www.figueres.cat
- Teatre-Museu Dalí: www.salvador-dali.org
- Casa Natal Salvador Dalí: www.casanataldali.cat
- Museu del Joguet de Catalunya: www.mjc.cat
- Museu de l’Empordà: www.museuemporda.org
- Castell de Sant Ferran: www.castellsantferran.com
- Comerç Figueres: www.comercfigueres.com
- Figueres a Escena: www.figueresaescena.cat
- Biblioteca Fages de Climent: www.bibliotecadefigueres.cat
The city of Figueres is the epicentre of the Alt Empordà region: its main attractions are its landscape, culture and history. The city is located fifteen kilometres from the Mediterranean Sea, at the foot of the Pyrenees and surrounded by three natural parks.
Culturally, the Dalí Theatre-Museum, which has just celebrated its 50th birthday, and other museums such as the Salvador Dalí Birthplace, the Toy Museum of Catalonia, the Museum of Empordà and the Museum of Technology are also outstanding. In addition, there is the largest fortress in Europe, the Castle of Sant Ferran, which is often visited by joggers and walkers.
To find out more about the secrets of the surrealist world of Salvador Dalí and the history of the city, there is nothing better than to take a guided tour of the Dalí route, the Civil War route, the Josep Pla route and the food and wine route. The city's dynamism can be experienced with the Market, the Santa Creu and Sant Pere Fairs and Festivals, the Acústica music festival and the Comic Strip Festival, among other cultural activities and events.
Not forgetting the commercial offer in the streets of the historic centre (the Rovell de l'Ou) and the gastronomic offer, a mixture of tradition and creativity, sea and mountain ingredients, and good wine, the DO Empordà, paired with the consolidated Empordà Wine Festival and the Fòrum Gastronòmic Ciutat de Figueres (City of Figueres Gastronomic Forum).
