Saturday was a beautiful sunny day. We left Granollers and the industrial zone of Valles Oriental behind us and headed north to Sant Hilary Sacalm
Sant Hilary Sacalm is known as the town with a hundred fountains. Two generations ago it was visited annually by hundreds of Catalans who came to taste the natural spring waters. There were hotels and restaurants and a busy Casino in the town centre. People came for two or three months in the summer with their whole families. Every year they would stay in the same hotel, walk the familiar pathes which lead to the different fountains, drink the various waters which were known to heal different parts of the body. They would meet the same friends every year and the annual ritual seemed as if it would never change
But now the town is quiet. Many of the hotels have closed down – one has even been knocked down to create a new plaça with a covered market. The Casino and the cinema have disappeared. Habits change and people stopped making this regular pilgrimage to drink the waters
But the fountains are still there
We visited the Font Ferro which heals the eyes
And the Font de Cirers which has the sweetest waters
And the Font del Pic which was not so popular
Font Vella is now the centre of a vast bottled water industry – presently owned by Danone!
That one was surrounded by signs saying ‘No Dogs’. Funny how big businesses go daft!
A lovely town with fresh clear air. I slept all the way home – drugged by cleanliness
“Water does not resist. Water flows. When you plunge your hand into it, all you feel is a caress. Water is not a solid wall, it will not stop you. But water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against it. Water is patient. Dripping water wears away a stone. Remember that, my child. Remember you are half water. If you can’t go through an obstacle, go around it. Water does.”
Margaret Atwood, The Penelopiad
I’ve never been there….seems a lovely spot! Is it near Montseny?
Yes Oreneta, is NE of Montseny in the Guilleries. Is a nice place, very peaceful. I usually went there with my grand parents for a month each summer… But the names of the springs were not the same kate said:
Font del Ferro, Font del Cirer (now Cirerer!), Font del Pic (There are lots of people who think it is the sweetest… but not for my grandmother!), la Font Vella wich is the most famous.
I love that Margaret Atwood quote! I am going to try to be like water for the rest of the day – no resistance!
How nice. I love hearing these kinds of stories and visiting old towns like this.
I was curious to visit the balneario de Font Vella while I was living in Bcn but never got around to it. I did go to Vichy Catalan though and it was very nice. I didn’t know that Font Vella had a ‘grifo’ where you could get water! There is one here in Gran Canaria also (Aguas de Teror), and I just think it’s so nice.
Back in Norway bottled water isn’t really a big thing, cause all water that people get in their houses is pure clean spring water. I guess that’s why it fascinates me, since you can’t drink the tap water.
Do you taste any difference in the different waters?
The water at Teror taste a bit different than the bottled water, according to locals it’s due to more minerals, and it’s called “la fuente agria de Teror”. It is a little bitter maybe, but taste really nice.
Yes the water does taste different from different fonts. We even did an experiment with water from two places on Montseny – tasters blindfolded and trying to see which was better – all agreed on the one from Santa Fe!
In Cornwall we drank from the tap too and it was delicious but here I never have although I am sure it is fine, just not so exciting!
Interesting! Before moving to Spain, I thought water was water, but I have learned there definitely are differences, and some waters taste better than others.
I heard of people drinking the tap water in Bcn, but it smelled strange and I didn’t want to drink it. Here on the island, they use a ‘potabilizadora’ (don’t know the word in English!) to cleanse the sea water and that’s our tap water and it’s not drinkable. There is a “waterman” though, so I get the garrafas de agua brought to the door every week, that is really nice!