From Pyrenean peaks to flamingo-dotted deltas, a new tour draws visitors away from busy Barcelona
On a hushed, narrow street decorated with wrought-iron balconies in the small Catalonian city of Solsona, local guide Ivan Viladrich has just pushed open the unassuming wooden door of an 18th-century building. Hidden inside are two pairs of intricately sculpted gegants (Catalan dancing giants) whose history goes back to the late 17th century. In the next room, there’s a 330-year-old wooden dragon (the Drac de Solsona), weighing almost 100kg, surrounded by all kinds of other mythological animal figures. They have all just been twirled and paraded around town during the Festa Major, held every September in Solsona.
“Solsona might not have big sights like Barcelona but it does have many small points of great interest, especially the old town with its intriguing architecture and Romanesque-origin cathedral,” says Ivan, who has been leading tours here with Solsona Experience since 2016. He explains how the city’s cultural heritage is one of its key tourism attractions, before pointing out gurgling gothic fountains, steeply sloping squares, curiously carved wooden beams and the weekly market as we stroll through the cobbled centre.
