Map and literature: Milena Busquets' Cadaqués
He says Milena Busquets that We all have a place in the world that we feel is ours. . Perhaps there where we had the best time during our childhood, that place where our lives changed forever or where we were really happy one night . Drenched in nostalgia, these physical spaces, but also mental ones, They serve us as a refuge.
For Milena Busquets that site, without a doubt, is Cadaques . And it is that in this small town on the Costa Brava he has spent (almost) every summer since he was born. Cadaqués rhymes in its memories with the words freedom, summer, sea, tranquility, love … in short, with the first times of almost everything.
Milena Busquets
Some sensitivities that she has transferred very well to her latest novels. Thus, in this too shall pass , the author locates the work in those planes, in that cadaques summer where everything is always better. And, in his recent book Gem , although it is located in Barcelona, Milena Busquets reserves Cadaqués as that dream space, of the idyllic.
A place, on the way between reality and her fiction, which can be glimpsed in her way of explaining Cadaqués. “Now it is overcrowded, but in the 70-80s it was like Blue summer ”, She maintains. “It was a fishing village that began to gain notoriety after Dalí spent the summer in the place and his presence dragged a group of artists and intellectuals”.
AN IDENTITY THAT RESISTS THE YEARS
Milena shows in her books a more embellished part of Cadaqués, more romanticized, which can be easily recovered because the town has known how to preserve it very well. “It is a very nice place and it has been very well maintained. The memory I have of my childhood is very similar to now ”, she points out.
A fact due in part to the difficult access, since Cadaqués is cornered between mountains and there is no train to access it. “This is thanks to the presence of Dalí, who protected the town a lot . There are height and construction limits that were established a long time ago”, says Milena Busquets.
"Besides, it's the north wind , which changes the character of those who go there. I also have to point out that it is a surprising place because there are few beaches and stone . What there are are many coves, so it is good to have a boat”, she points out. “In addition to the sea, there is also the Dalí's house, Cap de Creus, the lighthouse … There are places to see, but there is not much activity since it is a small town”, she maintains.
Cadaqués, Dalí's fishing village of eternal summers
THE FICTION THAT ENVELOPES CADAQUÉS
The beauty of Cadaqués, its placement on the map by the intellectuals who spent summers there and its consequent fame, has made drink a lot of fiction . As Milena Busquets points out, “imagination is very important. When you start to tell your experiences, since there is always a part of invention. Cadaqués is a mixture of what all of us who have passed through there have created, but also of reality . If there is no base, there is little you can do”.
The author also maintains that Cadaqués lends itself a lot to fiction, which is very easy to write about . “Cadaqués has a beauty that surprises and moves me. And it influences me. The wind, being a bit isolated... Many stories have occurred to me there, creativity drives me . That's why so many artists have gone. It is a place that gets you going, a place where things happen. It does not leave you indifferent. I don't believe in this, but I would say that he has a very intense energy ”. And he smiles: "Without a doubt, it is very good material for creation."
Cap de Creus
A SUMMER DAY WITH MILENA BUSQUETS
"When I'm there, I wake up and go down to the beach. Then to the Maritim, which is on the seafront and is a historic bar. Then to the Beirut , which is my favorite place to eat and where I have been going for 30 years. There is Greek food, shawarmas... everything is very tasty. Or if you prefer a paella, you have to go to Es Baluard."
"In the afternoon I usually go to the square, walk. I really like doing nothing. On summer days, what are you going to do? A long breakfast. Be . And then back to the beach. And end the day from the Cap de Creus lighthouse".
"Cadaqués is a great place. I have been very happy there. The memories that I have been accumulating… my whole life has happened there".
this too shall pass