Estudis “Cap als orígens de Palamós i Vila-romà” i “El procés d’agregació de Sant Joan de Palamós a Palamós

Studies “Towards the origins of Palamós and Vila-romà” and “The process of aggregation of Sant Joan de Palamós to Palamós

Funding entity

Palamós City Council

Period of execution

2022

Amount

€7,500

Researchers: Dr. Joaquim Nadal, Dr. Elvis Mallorquí and Dr. David Pavón.

Description

TOWARDS THE ORIGINS OF PALAMÓS AND VILA-ROMÀ

Throughout history, the territory now included in the municipality of Palamós has been structured through very different entities and with very varied names. We know that, between 1940 and 1941, the previously independent municipality of Sant Joan de Palamós was annexed to that of Palamós. But what entities existed before the formation of both municipalities and that of Vall-llobrega in the second third of the 19th century? The batllia jurisdictional system, born at the end of the 13th century, encompassed these three territories or did it extend further to Calonge and Fitor? The boundaries of the municipalities come from those of the twin parishes of Santa Eugènia de Vila-romà and Sant Mateu de Vall-llobrega, documented since the 13th century, and Santa Maria de Palamós, formed in the 15th century? What role did the castles of Sant Esteve de Mar, Vila-romà and the mysterious Moorish castle play? Was there a ‘palace’ in Muslim times? And what remains of the Roman villas two thousand years later? The Iberian settlement of Castell had a territorial scope similar to that of the municipality of Palamós? And, going back even further, did the megalithic monuments that we find in Les Gavarres already mark the territory of a community?

Since the Neolithic, as the number of the population grew and societies became more complex internally, it has been necessary to define, with increasing precision, the limits of the space occupied by each human community to separate it from its neighbors. Taking into account the marks that have separated the territory of Palamós from those of Sant Joan, until 1942, Vall-llobrega, Calonge, Fitor and Mont-ras,1 helps to understand that the people of this territory have lived between two opposite poles: on the one hand, the rural and forested hinterland that climbs from the Aubi plain towards the foothills of the Gavarres; on the other, the sea, an open door to trade and communication with distant places, but also the entry of many dangers and threats. Looking to the future, this knowledge can reinforce the collective feeling of belonging and rootedness to a land.

1    The present study owes a lot to Pere Trijueque, both to his historical works and to the observations made in a previous article from 2008. With these pages, we want to pay tribute to him for his task for the history of Palamós, the surrounding towns and its people. In relation to the milestones of the municipality, cf. Trijueque, El termenal....

THE PROCESS OF AGGREGATION OF SANT JOAN DE PALAMÓS TO PALAMÓS

David Pavón establishes an approach that partly relativizes the annexation of 1942. First because already with the Law of 1866, a preliminary project proposed the aggregation of Montràs, Valllobrega and Sant Joan de Palamós to Palamós. On the other hand, the 1930 report already accredited the imperative and essential need for the merger that would definitively sanction the order of March 31, 1942. The report of Pelayo Martínez as architect of “regiones devastadas” of December 13, 1940 already established the elements that made the merger essential that was stimulated by the declaration of Palamós as a municipality “adopted” by Francoism. The plot line exhibited urban continuity, forced labor mobility, the territorial disproportion between Palamós and Sant Joan, the future situation of the Palamós hospital in the Sant Joan area, the common urbanization programs and shared water services. Pavon points out, however, a documentaryally significant fact: on the one hand, the absence of references to the subject between 1930 and 1940 and on the other, a real blank page, or a black hole, between the 1940 report and the 1942 resolution, without any documentary evidence of the public information that the Civil Government required. It is clear, however, that this set of circumstances dominates over the occasional casuistry that is poorly documented and increasingly blurred by the lack of oral testimonies.