Around Baix Llobregat, a restored castle and a country in miniature

In Sant Joan Despí, Josep Maria Jujol, who often worked with Antoni Gaudí, left one of his major creations: the transformation of an old country house, Can Negre, into a place full of fantasy and magic, with overtones of modernista art. Today it is the Centre Jujol – Can Negre, open to visitors with organised routes through the town focused on Jujol. The architect left three examples of his craft in this town in Baix Llobregat, including the Torre de la Creu ‒ popularly known as the Torre dels Ous ‒, a summer house consisting of five cylinders of different sizes and heights. This activity, which also includes a small breakfast, is a good way to start your getaway.

And after having experienced Jujol’s magic, you’ll head to a place that seems designed to be the perfect home for Smurfs or gnomes. But you’ll quickly recognise many of its buildings. Because you’re in Catalunya en Miniatura, in Torrelles de Llobregat, a theme park with detailed models of the main buildings of Catalonia. Tibidabo, the Dalí Museum in Figueres, the Romanesque churches in the Vall de Boí, the Seu Vella in Lleida or the monastery of Poblet are just some of the more than one hundred small works of art that you can see on your visit, as well as reproductions of natural areas such as Banyoles Lake, Costa Brava coves or Montserrat mountain.

After the visit, you can test your agility by doing some exercise in the Bosc Vertical. It’s an adventure park with four circuits of different levels of difficulty, where you can move in complete safety from one tree to another through footbridges, bridges and zip lines.  

At lunchtime drive to the coastal town of Castelldefels because this is where you’ll spend the afternoon. You can eat at Tibu-ron Beach Club, close to the waves, noted for its rice and noodle paellas. After lunch you’ll discover the main symbol of the town, so much so that it gives it its name: the castle. After several reform phases, today it’s an open space and a platform of cultural dissemination and history. There are guided tours, on which they will tell you, among many other things, that you are in a building listed as a cultural asset of national interest as there are references to it dating back to the 10th century, and that its current appearance is mainly due to a reform carried out in the late 19th century. This historic place located at a high level provides an excellent end to your day in Baix Llobregat.