Cadaquès

Of all the wonderful villages the Costa Brava has to offer, one in particular sums up its authenicity and uniqueness: Cadaqués. The name Cadaqués might possible have evolved from Cap de quers (Cap des Roches, or Cape Rocks), because of the large quantity of rocky outcrops in the area of Cap de Creus. It might otherwise come from ‘cadaquer’ or cadaquers (Juniper wood, from the Catalan ‘Càdecs’), a bush which grows naturally along this part of the coast. A third possibility is that Cadaqués is in fact composed of two Greek words, kata-kairus, secondary port (the Greeks used the port on their trading routes when bad weather forced sailors and traders to take shelter in port).

On the most eastern edge of the Peninsula Cap de Creux, Cadaquès is considered by many as the pearl of the Costa Brava. If we go back a thousand years in time, at a time when the Iberians were lord and master of all they surveyed, artists and artisans came to Caduqués for the beauty and charm of its surroundings. It has remained home to a great many artists, including Salvador Dalí who immortalised the village in many of his paintings and introduced it to the world.

Since Dalí, Eliseu Meifren, or others such as Picasso, Duchamp, Max Emst, Magritte and Antoine Pitxot became known for their artistic and musical talent. Then writers such as Paul Eluard, his wife Gala, Frederico Garcia Lorca, Eugenie d’Ors and Josep Pka, and the well-known cineaste Luis Buñuel who also found inspiration in Caduqués.

Finally, in the 60s, tourism elbowed fishing out as the town’s principle source of income, and in spite of the huge increase in numbers visiting the village, Caduqués remains an authentic, beautiful village to this day, its isolation ensuring it’s rich heritage, language, traditions, its church, and its doll, a large green jug which women used to transport water from the village fountain remain timeless.