The President of the Port celebrates that the Serrallo quarter’s cultural facilities contributed towards the Catalan Tourism Agency’s positive decision

The President of the Port celebrates that the Serrallo quarter’s cultural facilities contributed towards the Catalan Tourism Agency’s positive decision

The committee of experts visited the quarter on 19 June in the company of the Port City director, Montse Adan, and the Port Museum director, Mercè Toldrà

The Port of Tarragona has received with satisfaction the news that the Catalan Tourism Agency (ACT) has awarded the Maritime Quarters and Towns distinction to Tarragona’s Serrallo quarter. The Port of Tarragona president, Josep Maria Cruset, described it as excellent news, particularly the fact that the cultural facilities promoted by the Tarragona Port Authority helped achieve this certification jointly awarded by the Catalan Regional Government’s Tourism Agency and its Ministry of Business and Knowledge.

“Maritime Quarters and Towns” is one of the tourism promotion brands fostered by the Catalan Tourism Agency to encourage tourism as a tool for the development, economic diversification and future guarantees of the country’s cities, towns, and villages. It is one way to encourage the deseasonalisation of tourism and to achieve conciliation and equilibrium between residents and visitors/tourists.

The committee of experts responsible for evaluating and validating brand certification applications visited the Serrallo quarter on 19 June, accompanied by the Port City director, Montse Adan, and the Port Museum director, Mercè Toldrà. During their tour, the specialists from the Catalan Tourism Agency visited the Observatori Blau educational area where they were told about the Port Museum’s rehabilitation and renewed museographic project, which will make it a benchmark for the whole sector. The committee of experts was able to see the cultural commitment, projection and heritage recuperation being undertaken by the Museum and the Port of Tarragona.

A tourism attraction with its own character

In this respect, the president of the Port expressed his satisfaction that the experts’ decision had been positively influenced by the existence, tasks and activities of facilities such as the Observatori Blau, the Port Museum, the Teatret del Serrallo and the former warehouses on the Costa Wharf. Cruset stated that these facilities "constitute a contribution by the Port to the Serrallo quarter, the city and the territory that, together with the quarter’s residents, fisherfolk, social and cultural bodies and restaurateurs, has turned this area into a tourism attraction with its own character".

In it press release issued today, the Catalan Tourism Agency highlights the fact that "El Serrallo, the present-day fishing quarter of Tarragona, is a living example, full of activities that show how the links between man and the sea are experienced". It goes on to explain that "its cultural offer is as extensive as its fishing tradition and is well represented by, among other facilities, the Port Museum that proposes a journey through the history of the port and its vessels, from when the Romans first disembarked on this coast to the present-day, based on guided tours and educational and family leisure activities".

The Catalan Tourism Agency also highlights how the "Observatori Blau, the Fishermen’s Brotherhood, the Port and the residents themselves, among others, also work to keep alive the history, customs, festivities and traditions of a fishing quarter par excellence".

Finally, the president of the Port stated that "for the Port of Tarragona it is excellent news that El Serrallo is being awarded this distinction, as for us it is a much loved area to which we have devoted resources to improving the urban space and the residents’ quality of life, as well as endowing it with leisure and cultural facilities and activities to help disseminate its history and traditions".