Spain's Salvador Dali Inn-to-Inn Trail

It is wonderful to understand the personality and work of Salvador Dalí with riding thru the three Dalinian Centres. This fascinating trail is based at the so-called Dalí Triangle of the towns Cadaques – Figueres – Pubol.

In the first, Portlligat, a bare bay north of Cadaques, is a Dalí landscape par excellence: there are slate coastlines covered by wind resistant thickets facing an electrifying blue sea. It was here that Dalí installed himself in 1930, occupying a simple fisherman´s hut. Here he painted numerous canvases, immortalizing his most be loved landscapes. Portlligat was the true home of Dalí who also frequented Paris and New York.

In the second, the Dalí Theatre-Museum of Figueres, opened on the 28th of September 1974, is the accumulation, the plenitude and the totality. It is the theatre of the memory, full of allusions to the artist´s life and work, extremely localised and universal at the same time. As the artist himself states, “The Museum should not be considered as a museum, it is a gigantic surrealist object, everything inside it is coherent, there is nothing that escapes from the webs of my understanding”.

In the third, the castle of Púbol, the fortress and refuge for Gala, the visible wife, is more austere. There are no accumulations, it is more severe and mysterious and it fascinates us. Here we discover a mature Dalí who pays homage to Gala, his muse, and he provides her with a space where she can be free. Nevertheless, the castle is bright, full of symbolism and small ironies that speak to us of a unique couple.

Portlligat, Figueres and Pubol, three angles of a creative idiosyncrasy, that approach us, show us and explain to us an internationally renowned artist with strong local roots. This trail brings us closer to the painter and guides us along some routes that are essential for understanding Dalí´s work as a whole. The light, colour, irony and the people… the Empordá region, accompany him and us on this fascinating journey.