Sitges reaches you when you set eyes on it. You hear it too. You can also touch and taste it, for sure. You can smell Sitges too, obviously. Your body feels good here as well, readjusted and balanced, it knows where it is and it doesn’t want to leave: it’s called proprioception and it’s our sixth sense (seriously, look it up).

In this post we’re going to share its ways into you and the sensations linked to each sense that people tend to experience in Sitges. Naturally, these can vary and differ slightly with each person, but from what our visitors tell us the margin of error is tiny...marginal really.

Sitges through sight
Sitges is a visual festival. Because it has every colour, every shape and plenty of its own art, exclusive, which you will only find here. The vibrant blue of our 17 beaches, the green and grey limestone of the Parc del Garraf, the white, stone and blue of the old town centre…and, here we go, the rainbow of our museums. It’s so true, our museums open our eyes wide and capture our gaze... many visitors don’t expect to find one of Spain's modernista temples in the Museu del Cau Ferrat, which also contains pictures by Picasso and El Greco; neither do they imagine they’ll find a fairytale palace with fantasy rooms and an architecturally indulgent terrace with sea views at the Palau de Maricel; nor a museum almost suspended over the Mediterranean with a natural light that caresses the works of modernista geniuses such as Rusiñol, Jou, Llimona and Casas, or the Escola Luminista de Sitges. In addition, for your eyes to experience new shapes and textures there’s nothing better than the Fundació Stämpfli, a gem for contemporary art, at the cutting edge of visuals.

Sitges has good taste

Another very grateful sense when people come to Sitges is taste. In addition to Mediterranean flavours, here we add some of the town’s own seasoning to subtly and definitively surprise the palate. We’re talking about dishes like Xató (especially from November to March) or Sitges-style rice. And, of course, the ambassador for good taste that is Malvasia de Sitges, a delicate, golden and fruity wine which you have to taste and which goes with everything, whatever you order. Keep an eye on the agenda too, as depending on which time of year you visit you could coincide with ‘Sitges Tapa a Tapa’ (the name tells you everything about what you’ll find during this 10-day event) and the Setmana de la Malvasia de Sitges (a week in November).

Sitges smells of the sea...and the mountains

Really, we always insist on this duality as lots of people associate us with the sea and forget what’s inland, sheltering the town, filtering the air and adding botanical notes to the Mediterranean breeze, the natural wonder that is the Parc del Garraf. This gem is the least-known part of Catalonia’s natural heritage. It’s not as if it’s lacking anything...or smells, of course: margalló (dwarf palms), the only native European palm, common polypody (Polypodium vulgare) and also Garraf broom, a flowering bush with slight yellow flowers and a very unique fragrance. Plus the smell of holm oaks and pine trees of course.
We always tell you the same thing about our beaches: we’ve got plenty of them and real variety along our 18 kilometres of coast: urban and wild, LGBTIQ+ friendly, family beaches, with views and some where clothing is optional. But they all have a similar smell: of salt and of optimism, fun and sunscreen, aperitifs and meals on the beach. The beaches in Sitges smell of the good life... you’re sure to understand what we’re saying.

Sitges touches you and lets you touch it

Touch is a very special sense. It connects with our nerve endings, which send information directly to our brains. In the case of Sitges, the result is a release of endorphins...or something similar. Here touch comes in the form of walking barefoot on the sand, the pleasurable shudder of entering the water... and of going shopping. It’s true, going shopping in Sitges is a delight for fingers, arms, legs, hips and the head... for the whole body, basically. With more than 500 different establishments, there are plenty of opportunities for touching, and then touching some more: clothes and accessories, with unique shops moving well away from franchises, crafts, jewellery and interior design... Sitges is always in fashion. It’s something tangible: if you come, you see it... and you touch it. The possibilities that shopping offers for touching should also take us to the Mercat de Sitges, epicentre of slow food, with 25 stalls that first capture our gaze and then our touch, before our taste buds pay their tribute.

Sitges sounds so good...

Hearing is a very delicate sense, but it connects directly with our mood. It can catapult us towards euphoria, tranquillity or nostalgia. In Sitges the rumble of the sea is the soundtrack that welcomes you and accompanies you. But those Mediterranean waves become very special here as they mix with the echo of laughter in the streets, the cheerful tinkle of people having a drink or relaxing on terraces. This is the atmosphere in Sitges, the thing people tell us that makes us different. Something difficult to explain...but which you can hear. And feel.

Another factor in that atmosphere are the music options we have throughout the year. Depending on when you visit, your hearing will have you following a different Pied Piper: the Festival de Jazz Antic de Sitges (March), with a street parade that is now a leading national event, the Mediterranean Guitar Festival (April to October), with unique concerts in the Ermita de Sant Sebastià, Sitges Pride (June), inviting people to stand up for freedom and let their hair down with concerts by the beach, the Festival Jardins de Terramar and the Festival Creative Connexions (October), filling the town with Irish music.

Sitges and complete awareness of being where we should be

Proprioception. That sixth sense that brings an overall consensus to add to the other five. It’s probably the most ethereal of them all, referring to the awareness of where our body is, our location and balance. It’s knowing where you are and how you are. Really, Sitges is to proprioception is what bacon is to eggs. Because beyond colours, sounds, textures and visions, or perhaps because of the way they all combine, Sitges puts you in a time-space paradigm which is like very few others. You feel so good that your body readjusts, the seven chakras flow and become balanced, your vibes are so good (or even better) and a sigh and an automatic smile cofirm who you are, where you are and where you're going, which in this case of the same thing of course. Sixth sense, welcome to Sitges.