Collaboration • Col·laboració • Colaboración

Along the lines of creating community (the mission of the Gay Sitges Link association), as I devised the concept for what is now The Sitges Quarterly Magazine, connecting residents and visitors was only part of the endeavour.

I felt Sitges was such a unique and wonderful place yet only superficial information about it was readily available to the public at large. What was available was information about its beaches, its location and a little about Santiago Rusiñol – the artist who put Sitges on the map as an artistic, attractive Mediterranean getaway. Information of any real substance was not available in English.

How extraordinary! Considering how popular it is as a holiday destination today, very little of its history is widely known… and so, I decided to change that reality.

Through collaboration with Sitgetans, day trip visitors, business conference attendees and holidaymakers, an exceptional project consisting of interesting perspectives, histories and stories could be remembered, found and shared. Photographs and historical anecdotes and events could be captured to grace the pages of the SQ. And now audio clips, home movies or news clips can be uploaded to this blog!

An excellent example of such collaboration began in the very first issue of the SQ with our Hidden Jewel feature. We featured a lovely stone relief carving, a capital on the exterior wall of the Palau Maricel near the church; it’s alongside several others with the typical theme of a group of men engaged in some activity. This one had the head of a woman with flowing hair and head cover beside a dog or wolf. And we weren’t sure of what it represented.

We invited everyone to write to us, in regard to “any feature, photo or information in our articles” and for any featured Hidden Jewel found in Sitges. We asked you to “please go find it and report back if you have any ideas about it”- and you did! In fact, we were very pleased to receive an email from Fran Romero.

It turned out that Fran had done some research on the Palau Maricel for a project of his, and he shared some his knowledge about the Maricel with our readers. He said that this capital in particular was the “most mysterious” of all of the capitals around the town and that all of them contain hidden stories, fables and depicting traditional Sitgetan life. The capitals of the doors and windows of the building were made ​​by Pere Jou, whose grandson has published several very interesting books of his grandfather's work*.

Fran Romero: “As I read (the SQ1), you are asking to be informed about this beautiful sculpture. Pere Jou loved tales and fables and this capital in particular represents the fable "The Fox and the Bust", which reads…

"Said the fox to the bust,

after smelling it:

'Your head is beautiful,

but brainless'

Like this there are many,

and although they appear men,

they're only busts”.

It was very heart warming to have moved someone enough for him or her to share such a story, and Fran touched the SQ team in return by doing so. He also offered an invitation to us, that if ever he could help us–all we had to do was ask.

And so I did!

As we were putting together the next issue of the SQ (no.5 – The Americanos) and because the Palau Maricel was created in that period in the history of the town, I asked him if we would like to collaborate with us and write a brief article about this important site. He obliged and wrote, “Palau Maricel: The Magnificence of Sitges”.

Hopefully it was the beginning of many more collaborations and partnerships to come.

Who knows what gems are waiting to be discovered? To be discovered, and help tell part of the on going story that is Sitges.

*[L'sculptor Pere Jou—Jou i Mirabent. Grup d'Estudis Sitgetans (1991, in Catalan)]