Tarragona, the perfect setting

Tarragona has everything necessary to host a competition which is as complex to organise as are the Mediterranean Games. It is an open, likeable and hospitable Mediterranean city. Its legacy of over two thousand years of history beside the sea and its excellent climate have led to an increase in the varied leisure, cultural and commercial pursuits Tarragona has to offer. Its golden beaches, its rich gastronomy and vast historical heritage welcome visitors to enjoy the town’s fiestas, traditions and entertainments.

Tarragona has been, is and will be a city profoundly marked by the Roman civilisation. Gnaeus Scipio created it in 218 B.C. and called it Tarraco. It was the first Roman military settlement outside the Italian peninsula and became the capital of all of Hispania Citerior, or Tarraconensis. The glory of those days can be seen today, thanks to the vast heritage that is preserved and makes Tarragona a unique place of Western Rome. Thousands of visitors each year admire the amphitheatre, the forum and the city walls, some of the city’s most recognisable symbols.

Tarragona’s cultural wealth would not be the same without its Arab past (which spans four centuries, from the 8th to the 12th, as a city of the Al-Andalus kingdom). And the city also has a few signs of Jewish presence. The call, the Jewish quarter, is set out in small roads and alleys within the city walls and around Saint Mary’s cathedral.

As a part of its more recent cultural legacy, Tarragona also has a large number of modernist buildings. Some, such as Casa Salas or the Metropol Theatre, are found on the Rambla Nova, one of the city’s main arteries. At the end of this avenue is one of the city’s most charming places, the Mediterranean Balcony, a viewpoint 23 metres above sea level from which you can get wonderful views over the Mediterranean, the port and the Roman amphitheatre. Its railings, designed in 1889, are famously beautiful, so much so that the locals, going there for a stroll, often use the expression ‘go and touch iron’.

The large number of fiestas and popular traditions reaffirm that it is an open, participative town, whose inhabitants identify with the popular culture of the region. There are two dates in honour of the city’s two patrons: Saint Magín, on 19th August, and especially, Saint Tecla, the Major Feast, with celebrations lasting from 15th to 24th September and which attract all of the townsfolk out into the streets with a host of musical, folkloric, theatrical, gastronomic, pyrotechnic and children’s events.

Indeed, pyrotechnics play a special role during the first week of July, with the international fireworks competition, which fills the city beaches with colour.

Also notable are such celebrations as Holy Week, which is a deep-rooted tradition in the city, then there is Carnival and the Tarraco Viva week, when the city’s Roman past is recreated. All these happenings give life to Tarragona and make it an example of a Mediterranean City, open to culture and proud of its traditions.

Another of Tarragona’s strong points is its exquisite gastronomy, a faithful reflection of its Mediterranean tradition. Olive oil, dried fruits, wine and, of course its sea food are compulsory at any worthy table. Esmarris, a dish based on blue fish cooked in an earthenware casserole, or fish and seafood zarzuelas are some of the most wonderful dishes of the area’s cuisine. Also typical is romesco sauce. Its ingredients of tomatoes, bread, oil, garlic, almonds, hazelnuts and red pepper give it its unmistakable sweet, slightly spicy taste. It can accompany all kinds of dishes.

Tarragona is, in short, the paradigm of a Mediterranean city, inhabited by friendly, tolerant people with a broad range of traditions and whose gastronomy makes the most of all the land and sea have to offer, tasty and full of subtleties and flavour. The perfect setting to successfully hold the Mediterranean Games which will, in turn, help towards building the Tarragona of the 21st century.