The beautiful fishing village of Cadaqués is sometimes referred to as an island on the coast.
That is because it is relatively protected from mass tourism by a long, winding road through the mountains of Cap de Creus.
The place has a distinctly bohemian-chic feel to it, and is known as a meeting point for artists, intellectuals and free spirits.
Such artists as Picaso, Mark Chagall, Marcel Duchamp, Henry Matisse, Mauric Boitel and Mick Jagger spent time in Cadaqués, and through the years the village has attracted a largely upscale public, which has cemented the town’s reputation as an up-market resort more suitable for arty adults than for families in search of a ‘typical’ beach vacation.
The time that Cadaqués was considered the artists’ capital of Spain is long gone, but its charm has remained. If you had a penny for every person who, upon visiting Cadaqués, has said they’d love to sell everything they have just so they could move here you’d be very rich.
It’s hard to put your finger on it, but somehow this place manages to retain that tranquil, ‘nothing-ever-happens-here’ feeling. Quite relaxing indeed.