We arrived in Sitges and within 10 minutes were sitting on a gay nudist beach with sangrias in our hands.
We never planned on going to Sitges. The way that we ended up in one of Europe’s gay vacation capitals was the result of an encounter that took place 44 years ago in Rhinebeck, New York, where Marion’s mother spent one year as an exchange student and met Mike — to this day one of her closest friends.
Mike and his partner Luis rented a villa in Sitges over the summer and invited us over for a visit. Curious about discovering a new place and excited to see them again, we immediately agreed and started planning. We arrived, serendipitously I suppose, at the beginning of Bear Week (we’ve still got the commemorative paper fan) and dove right into the wild and wonderful gay culture of this tiny seaside city.
LGBTQ+ Sitges
The Sitges queer scene is very geared towards gay men. The upside of this is that we felt almost unnaturally safe — Hannah kept remarking that she’d never been surrounded by so many men in her life, while feeling totally, blissfully invisible.
On paper, Spain is one of the most LGBTQ+ friendly countries in the world, ranking number 7 on the World Equality Index. However, this has not always been the case.
Under Franco's dictatorship, homosexual people — mostly men — were imprisoned in large numbers and sent to special prisons called "galerías de invertidos" ("galleries of deviants"). Despite the political activism of the early 70s, gay prisoners were often overlooked and gay activists, to this day, state that reparations still haven't been made.
Yet many clandestine queer spaces emerged in the 1960s, with establishments appearing in Barcelona, Ibiza, and Sitges, which were tolerant cities in spite of Franco’s regime. Attitudes around the country started changing with the transition to democracy after Franco's death, helped along by La Movida, a countercultural movement that centred antiracism, punk music and aesthetics, and LGBTQ+ rights. Spain decriminalised homosexuality in 1979 and the first Gay Pride Parade, held in Madrid, took place in June of the same year. Same-sex marriage (with joint adoption) was legalised in 2005.
Brandon Jones, a prominent member of the queer community in Sitges today, explains famous painter Santiago Rusiñol's influence on the cities makeup:
“His Bohemian, homo and bi friends joined him, as did the likes of Diaghilev, the ballet entrepreneur and his gay lover the dancer Nijinsky, composer de Falla, playwright Lorca and painter Salvador Dali, all of whom helped to transform the fishing village into a Bohemian artists’ retreat — a tradition which remains today."
He also claimed that prominent families in Barcelona with gay sons would send them to nearby Sitges to be 'out of the public eye'. Sitges' proximity to Barcelona reminded us of Brighton's relationship to London — within reach of the big city, but freer, weirder, and more relaxed.
Like many popular gay tourist destinations, there are still far more gay men than lesbians. We revelled in the invisibility this offered us, while also being very aware that the prevailing queer culture in Sitges wasn't entirely our own.
Wine & drinks
Our favourite wine discovery was the Catalan iteration of grenache — garnatxa. It’s a little spicy yet soft on the palate, and has a high alcohol content. The Catalan garnatxa is the same grape as the French grenache or Spanish granache, but grown in the sun-kissed hills and mountains of the region. It’s often mixed with other grapes, but order the local garnatxa in any restaurant and you’ll be satisfied.
We did an impromptu wine tasting with the owner of La Espontánea, a natural wine purveyor in the neighbouring village of Sant Pere de Ribes. We contacted him via Instagram and took a taxi there (a short, cheap journey to avoid the heat — though there is a bus from the centre which we took on the way back). Personally, we recommend the aptly named Errática — see the incredible bottle below.
Hannah also loves vermouth, and recommends ordering the house vermouth with a little ice if you like your drinks bitter, especially as an aperitif.
Food
We're just gonna say it — we're not big fans of Spanish food. Nevertheless, we ate well and found great veggie options for such a small town.
Bar Tomeu: We ate here with our hosts on our first evening.
It was the best of the Spanish tapas we had (top tier pa amp tomàquet, bread with tomatoes). They have many vegan options and delicious wine.
Dosa Nova: This fully vegan restaurant in the heart of the town serves mostly, you guessed it, dosas. Dosas are southern Indian crispy crêpes made from fermented rice and lentils. They have a range of fillings inspired by different cuisines and the owners were incredibly welcoming and kind.
Veggie garden: This vegan chain (you'll find a couple in Barcelona as well) serves a wide variety of delicious dishes. Marion opted for a quinoa and tofu salad while Hannah had the aubergine special. We also shared bread and hummus, of course. The 'Dream Tonight' smoothie with avocado and pistachio is heaven.
El Noi d’Alcoi: A lovely restaurant with outdoor seating where we shared delicious tapas (patatas bravas, pa amp tomàquet, and mussels). We stayed for a second glass of wine and observed the quiet street life.
Spice Garden: A vegan restaurant serving mostly Indian food. It's especially well known for its thalis.
Empanada Club: Of course we couldn't leave without finding a vegan empanada! The Empanada Club is a chain serving the traditional Argentinian empanada. They had a couple of vegan options that we savoured while standing at the one high table in the shop.
Culture & activities
One of our favourite afternoons was spent in the museums — Cau Ferrat and Maricel. We discovered the work of Santiago Rusiñol, one of the prominent painters of the Catalan Modernisme movement. We recommend viewing the Allegories in particular, but his whole collection is worth seeing. The Maricel museum (part of the same building) has one particularly awe-inspiring room containing three nude female sculptures posed in front of floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the sea.
We spent our last Friday evening listening to a guitar and piano duo in the Ermita De San Sebastián church as part of the Mediterranean Guitar Festival. The pianist added castanets to a couple of numbers, and we thoroughly enjoyed basking in this traditional music.
Festivals
Festival Dona (which celebrates women in arts) was going on while we were there, though you’ll likely need a good level of Spanish comprehension to get the most out of it. The Sitges Film Festival, which happens in November, doesn’t sideline so-called ‘genre’ films and showcases everything from arthouse horror to women-led fantasy.
Of course, we were also there during the aforementioned Bear Week. Decidedly un-bear-ish, we didn't participate but thoroughly enjoyed the party atmosphere in the town and on the gay nudist beaches (more on that later).
Nightlife
Our hosts took us dancing at Queenz, which played all the classic pride playlist hits and had drag queens working the bar. This was in direct contrast to the tiny lesbian bar in Barcelona — Carita Bonita — which played indie music and queer techno, with not a tourist in sight (the two of us notwithstanding).
Most nights, we tottered in before midnight and woke early for those quiet swims, while our hosts danced until sunrise. If gay clubs are your thing, there's no shortage of options!
Beaches
Our 'local' beach was Platja dels Balmins — clothing optional, very gay friendly. The majority of beach goers were gay men, but the beach is family-friendly and there were a few kids running around. We weren't the only queer women but we were definitely in the minority. People are friendly and there's plenty of mingling, clothed or not. There's a cafe serving coffee and alcohol right on the beach, and we happily floated about in the pristine water with wine in hand. We only stripped down for a naked swim at sunrise, when the beach was nearly empty and blissfully quiet.
Photo walks
We stayed near the port on Sitges’ eastern edge. The little streets of holiday homes near Placa Calafats are quaint and filled with cute corners and local cats.
Walking into town from our neighbourhood, stop to take in the gorgeous view of Sitges from from the Ermita de Sant Sebastià church. There's plenty to see along the wide promenade leading down into the town.
The entire area near the iconic Sant Bartomeu i Santa Tecla de Sitges and neighbouring museums is a Mediterranean dream. Keep an eye out for the gorgeous hand-painted tiles on the houses.
Walk up Carrer de la Davallada and you will find a little alley to your right (before the Hotel-Restaurant Davallada), where we took some photos against the pink-washed houses. If you keep walking up, you will see Carrer San Juan to your left, a beautiful little street of white walls and blue tiles. Similarly to Venice, we recommend taking the side streets of Sitges. Follow the tourists for a while but don't be afraid to get lost — it is in the town's quiet alleyways that we found most of its beauty.
Recommended reading
Hannah was reading The Enlightenment of Katzuo Nakamatsu by Augusto Higa Oshiro, translated from Spanish by Jennifer Shyue. She also highly recommends the Catalan author Irene Sola's magical novel When I Sing, Mountains Dance.
Marion was reading Fight Club, and describes reading a book on toxic masculinity while surrounded by naked gay men on a beach as "quite the experience."
Getting there
We flew in from Gatwick Airport. Public transport from Barcelona El Prat Airport to Sitges is not well signposted. You've been warned. The busses come every one to two hours, depending on the day. The bus company is called Bus Garraf (you buy a ticket from the machine), but the schedule is an A4 paper on a nondescript bulletin board and the bus is a white tour-bus-style vehicle that says PLANA. Good luck.
Want to know more? Or have you been to Sitges and think we missed something special? Get in touch with us at gaygirlstravelguide@gmail.com.