COSTA DAURADA 2022

VILA-SECA, LA
PINEDA PLATJA, THE
PLEASURE OF COMING BACK
AGAIN
Vila-seca is a town with deep agricultural
roots and a long tradition of winegrowing
passed on from generation to
generation. A good example of this is the
landmark Celler de Vila-seca, recently
restored to turn it into a cutting-edge multi-purpose
museum and venue in which
to enjoy experiences and excitement of
all kinds through a range of cultural and
tourist activities.
The Celler de Vila-seca, which opened this
spring, completes the creation of a “cultural
park” in Vila-seca which also takes in
Vila-seca castle, recently turned into an
exhibition venue for contemporary art.
The aim of this work is to design and build
a different, surprising and exciting museum,
intended to impact the public with
their own recent history and highlight the
importance of cooperative movement and
its legacy in Vila-seca.
Vila-seca’s cultural options also include
a route around the historic town centre.
This is a self-guided route for visitors
and anybody else interested to follow
with a series of QR codes marking the
most important places of interest and
linking to the history and features of
each spot or building.
A good starting point for the route is
the Raval de Mar, a stone’s throw from
the entrance to Vila-seca’s historic old
town. There you can see the 12th-century
Creu de la Beguda, the last survivor
of the boundary crosses and even more
ancient signs marking roads, which in
the past showed the boundaries between
the lands of Salou, Vila-seca del
Comú i Vila-seca de Solcina. Here you
can begin a route that takes you through
nearly thirty streets and squares that
make up a highly distinctive neighbourhood
that, despite all the changes in
recent years, still boasts some delightful
traditional shops.
Once inside the old town, visitors can
see the culture and heritage of Vila-seca
for themselves, including the church of
Sant Esteve (St. Stephen), a 17th century
building in the neoclassical style. Also
of interest are the 14th-century gate of
Sant Antoni and the town’s different defensive
towers.
From the old town of Vila-seca it is not far
to the 3 kilometre-long beach of La Pineda,
ideal for all the family and for anybody
who likes gently-sloping, safe beaches. A
long promenade runs along the beach. Its
seafront is one of the biggest urban public
spaces overlooking the sea on the Costa
Daurada. Of high quality and considerable
landscape and environmental value, since
1999 it has held the blue flag awarded
by ADEAC, the Spanish environmental
and consumer education association.
GREEN SPACES
Vila-seca boasts green spaces and natural
areas of great landscape and environmental
interest. One of them is the
Sèquia Major, the biggest wetland area
Costa Daurada Magazine 2022 44