Cultural offer: an essential tool in our tourism

Last week we premiered the campaign this summer, bathe yourself in culture. For the second consecutive year, the City Council launched an initiative that aims to bring together under one brand the intense cultural program that takes place in Sitges during the summer months. It is a support for festivals, concerts and other summer festivals and at the same time, a useful tool for the recipients of such activities, which are mainly tourists and visitors, but also the citizens of Sitges.

This summer, bathe yourself in culture is the umbrella that groups well established festivals contained in our cultural program, we are dealing here with the Summer Concert Series, the Tango Festival and the Sitgestiu Cultural, along with other interesting proposals that have emerged recently and that are in process of becoming permanent events on our agenda, such as Concerts de Mitjanit or Sitges Green Sound (with the addition of Sitges Red Sound).These three proposals bear the stamp of Port de Aiguadolç or Port de Sitges, that shows their strong commitment to become a space for leisure and quality culture.

The campaign sums up other specific events, such as Any Espriu, the brand new Cine Club Sitges or the ballet show offered by the Moscow Ballet, and as it cannot be in any other way, the events of our Annual Festival, both traditional and artistic performances. The whole program is a long list of more than 200 cultural events scheduled during the summer months in Sitges.

Cultural TourismThe promotion and development of tourism is one of the main commitments of the Municipal Government. Our economy is based on tourism. It is the main occupation of the inhabitants of Sitges, the main economic activity of our companies, the main weapon we have so a Sitges that has grown in recent years over what was recommended and advisable, is capable of preserving the essence of a living town with permanent activities. Sitges without tourism today is doomed to become a bedroom community.

And in the design of a Sitges with high quality tourism, culture is a priority. Our tourism is based on sun and sand, on our gastronomy and business conventions, (a very important and relevant fact, since it allows to break seasonality) sporting events and it is also cultural.

For this reason, it is essential to have a program such as the one represented by the different initiatives covered by this summer, bathe yourself in culture. Any tourist who arrives in Sitges with a minimum of cultural sensitivity, this is the tourism that we want most, has at its disposal a remarkable cultural program. Regardless of their cultural interests, the offer of classical, opera, jazz, pop, rock, dance or tango is strong enough to meet the varied needs and at the same time, is capable of fulfilling the most demanding agendas.

Almost every summer day is cultural, and the duty of the City Council is not to organize those activities, but to give them active support. We will deliver support though logistics and broadcasting, facilitating the access of tourists and visitors to exciting proposals that strengthen our label of quality tourism.

This summer, bathe culture

Urgent action to nourish our beaches

This night, we just began works to take sand to beaches named Sebastià, Bassa Rodona, Estanyol and Riera Xica. We are dealing here with an urgent action carried out by the City Council, to offset the reduction of sand surface experienced by the four beaches due to coastline dynamics, badly affected by spring storms that were especially virulent on the beaches near the center of Sitges.

This urgent sand nourishment started today and will cover the entire week. During five nights, trucks and caterpillars will work from 10 PM to 7 AM to improve the condition of beaches with 2.000 cubic meters of sand. The new sand received by the four more affected beaches came from a sand surplus existing at the beach named Les Botigues, and complies with all natural conservation and green standards.

Faced with the negative results provoked by the loss of an important sand surface just at the beginning of the tourist season, they City Hall of Sitges had two possible options. The first was to wait for the sea to return the sand carried away, and the second was to anticipate events and act with celerity and decision, to insure that the four most affected beaches could receive sand from other beaches in the municipality.

The loss of sand in some beaches near the center of Sitges –Sant Sebastià and Bassa Rodona are the most notorious cases– is a common mishap during most of the winters. If we enjoy a placid spring, sand regeneration takes place naturally at the beginning of the tourist season, and the sea returns all the sand carried away. But is the spring comes laden with storms, winds and rough sea, just as the current season, the natural regeneration is rather unlikely.

For this reason, at the City Hall we took the initiative and we decided to nourish the sand ourselves. The project was budgeted at just over 50.000€ and is assumed entirely by the City Hall. Too many elements were at play: success of the tourist season; economic impacts provoked by the lack of sand on the entire population; and the image of our coastline during the highest point in the tourist season.

The City Hall allocated a special item to carry out this operation that needed an urgent implementation. The Beach Department is performing an exhaustive following and if conditions make it possible, next week the four beaches of Sant Sebastià, Bassa Rodona, Estanyol and Riera Xica will enjoy a far more stable condition.