Sitges History 20th Century
The Sitges history 20th century began with the culmination of all the modernisation that had taken place towards the end of the previous century. Urban growth continued with the development of the Terramar and Vinyet neighbourhoods, and the Passeig Maritim was built. The staircase from La Fragata to La Punta was completed in 1900, the Cap de la Vila was renovated, large open roads connected the maritime promenade with the Vilanova road and “americanos” built beautiful oceanfront homes some of which are still standing today.
Electricity, the telephone and piped water arrived. The double railroad track between Sitges y Castelldefels was finished. The shoe manufacturing industry initiated at the end of the previous century was consolidated and grew. By 1936, 75% of the Sitges workforce worked in the shoe making industry. A factory of cement and hydraulic lime mortar was opened in Vallcarca and the corresponding workers colony followed in 1901, housing more than five thousand workers in the mid twentieth century.
In the first half of the twentieth century, tourism arrived and the fame of Sitges spread. A tourist information office was set-up, hotels opened (Hotel Subur in 1916, Hotel Terramar in 1933), and cultural facilities were inaugurated (Museu Cau Ferrat and the Santiago Rusiñol library). New schools were opened with such emblematic teachers that some of today’s schools in Sitges are named after them: Esteve Barrachina, Maria Ossó, Emili Picó i Magí Casanovas.
The hospital of Sant Joan Baptista was built between 1910 and 1912 and is currently an old people’s home. It is a fine example of modernist architecture and the main door and its lantern dome deserve a special mention.
The painter Agustí Ferrer Pino designed the “Drac de Sitges” which was first shown in public at the “Festa Major” in 1922.
The Terramar race-track was the first permanent car-racing circuit in Spain (1923) and the third in Europe.
It was a time when many associations were founded, some of which still continue today: Club Natació Sitges (swimming club), Club Ciclista Suburense (cycling club), Patronat d’Acció Social Catòlica
Sitges was considered a cultured and cosmopolitan town and in its midst lived and worked sculptors, painters, poets, composers and characters as accomplished as Miquel Utrillo (engineer, art critic, cultural organiser…), Joaquim Sunyer (Novecentismo painter) Antoni Català (composer of sacred music and sardanas), Josep Carbonell i Gener (journalist, historian) and Charles Deering (industrialist and North American collector who was so impressed by the beauty of Sitges that he built there the Palau Maricel to house his art collection.
The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) put a stop to this cultural efflorescence and to Sitges’ (and the rest of Catalonia) opening up to the world. A dark period ensued due to the dictatorship, repression, international isolation, social inequalities, and scarcity of raw materials. From the second half of the twentieth century the situation began to change.
Spain joined some international organisations and USA started to support the Franco regime. Tourism started up again and hotels grew threefold. Bars, cafés and nightclubs also experimented an increase in numbers. As tourism bloomed, much of the workforce that had previously been working in shoe manufacturing moved towards jobs in tourism or construction and the shoe industry began to decline. By the seventies, around 75% of the Sitges workforce was working in tourism-related jobs.
As is characteristic of Sitges, the social and cultural life of the village was once again vibrant and all encompassing: in 1970 the Museu Maricel was opened, Artur Carbonell was a great theatre man (and painter) who created many events and variety shows (1906-1973), Pere Jou sculpted the capitals of the Palau Maricel and the friezes of the Casino Prado (1891-1964), Ramon Planas was a great journalist and a prominent intellectual who published novels and essays (1905-1989), Pere Pruna (1904-1977) painted a mural for the baptistery and side chapel in the parish church, the Corpus Christi Festival became an institutionalized event and prizes were awarded to the best flower carpets and best Carnation Display. The first Barcelona to Sitges Vintage Car Rally took place in 1959, the theatre and cinema festivals got going towards the end of the 1960’s and the Festa de la Verema (grape harvest festival) became an annual event at the beginning of the 70’s.
When Franco´s dictatorship ended, there was great political change. The first democratic elections took place in 1979 and Jordi Serra of the political party PSC-PSOE was elected to the town hall. Sitges underwent extraordinary growth that began at the end of the 70´s and continues today: with a population of 11,500 registered in 1970, Sitges grew to 28,130 residents in 2010 (municipal census data).
This meant the development of new roads and avenues, new residential areas…In 1975 the Port d’Aiguadolç was built. At the beginning of the 90’s the C-32 Garraf motorway was opened and its use immediately reduced travel time from Sitges to Barcelona and to the airport. As a result more hotels were built and there was an increased affluence of visitors. Sitges became the second destination in volume for the celebration of congresses in Catalonia.
With the arrival of democracy Sitges was able to reinstate the celebration of Carnival, which had been banned during the dictatorship. With the years the number of floats and participants in the street festivities has grown and the fame of the Sitges Carnival has spread around the world.
Development has not only been at the service of tourism, residents have also benefited with the improvement of parks, services and infrastructures: urban green spaces such as the Terramar gardens or the Hort de Can Falç have been recovered and new parks such as the Parc of Can Robert have been created. New schools have been built, also a new municipal market, a new library and a citizen’s advice bureau.
New associations, societies, guilds and clubs were established in the village and they covered all manner of leisure pursuits: culture, sport, and folklore.
The bustling social and cultural lifestyle is written into the DNA of the inhabitants of Sitges. With its white houses, “americano” villas and people greeting each other in the streets (after all Sitges is essentially a small village), it is nevertheless as active culturally as a big city, with film and theatre festivals, a great range of leisure and festive events, Carnival, the Vintage Car Rally, the Menjar de Tast, concerts, it is difficult to find a weekend where there isn’t some sort of celebration, exhibition, parade or public event taking place.
This makes Sitges a unique town that has no use for the word boredom, however having said that it also offers calm spots for those who prefer repose. These contrasts linked with the charm of the locals have made it special: the sea and the mountains of Garraf, its quiet nooks and its streets full of “fiesta”, the popular festivities and the International Festivals of Cinema and Theatre, the religious and pagan celebration.
Conclusion to Sitges History 20th Century
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