Hand in hand with Ana and José Ángel Estalrich we delve into the history of the granadella and the South restaurant. The beginnings go back to a chiringuito next to the beach in 1959. From the years 70 becomes a restaurant and from 2002 it moves to Avenida del Tío Catalá.
The beginnings
The story begins in the 50s when Joaquín Estalrich and his brother worked as laborers in the construction of the road that connects Xàbia with Granadella. Then the first tourists began to arrive, most of them French. Joaquín's wife moved to La Granadella so that they would not have to travel to Benitatxell. Faced with this situation, the Estalrichs set up a beach bar with four hurdles and since they had a small boat, with what they collected they served the tourists.
In the 1973 year there is a national level regulation of public domain and they build the restaurant next to the beach. During 25 years, the Estalrich family is in this place until the concession ends and they have to leave the restaurant.
At that moment they decide to go further and buy two houses from Tío Catalá Avenue that are next to their property and exchange one of them to build the current South Restaurant. Now, in its 60 anniversary, a tribute to the evolution of the Granadella is made with a photographic exhibition from when the first tourists began to arrive until the most recent images.
Exhibition
Exhibition '60 years with you' It shows curious photographs in which you can see how tourists rode with two guitars, or the mountain of Granadella without pines or how the cove had cattle, vines, olive trees or carob trees. Ana, owner of Restaurante Sur, says that when she discovers the Granadella's photo without pine trees, "The duel of the 2000 fire happened to me sooner, I was born and grown with the pines, and when I saw that the Granadella had no pines I thought that the fire has caused us to return to the previous years and the pines grew by abandoning the farming".
In the photographic exhibition you can see the houses that existed, such as that of the captaincy, the barracks of carabineros and after the flood of 1957 move several houses.
Holidays are another important point of the Granadella. According to the Estalrich family, "There was always a guitar that encouraged the party. In the current ravine, with four hurdles, a fence was made and heifers were released. They usually escaped and all this was a party."
Regards
José Ángel highlights from the exhibition a set of three photos: Fresh water, salt water and fire. One of the 82 with a strong storm that the waves passed over the trampoline, another of the 85, with rain and weather that causes the beach to be carried transversally and a third with the 2000 fire, with the gesture of two people says it all. This situation caused 80 to take refuge in the restaurant "and then we had the recognition of the Red Cross with the Bronze Cross."
The show also pays homage to people who are no longer there, people who have been an important part of family life and friends.
In the snapshots you can see how in the first years there were no refrigerators and no butane, "We had rabbits and chickens, my father was a fisherman and they cooked sailors, rice, tortillas; in short, what the sea and the land gave you."
The brothers remember and reckon with pride when their father arranged a bicycle with a drawer behind to pick up the ice, "Every day I made the journey from the ice factory that was in the port to the Granadella, and in one of the caves, with straw and ice food was preserved."
The evolution of Granadella
The years go by, and the Estalrich family values the change suffered in Cala, "La Granadella was too crowded and it had to be controlled. The vehicle restrictions in the last two years have been good, but during the first year we suffered a lot due to a lack of communication with people. We spent three weeks in July looking at each other and without customers. In August came the flood that destroyed the beach and both the town hall as
restaurateurs were aware that better communication had to be done warning that traffic was cut when the capacity was full and that we had to get off by train or bus. An action that we think is good. "
Open doors in the South Restaurant
The 60 anniversary of the South Restaurant brings this photographic exhibition of the Granadella that can be visited, but also, from the 24 to the 27 of May, they will elaborate a gluten-free menu. It should be remembered that for the second consecutive year, the South Restaurant has been recognized as the best gluten-free restaurant in the Valencian Community by the ACECOVA Celiac Federation.
The 13 of September will be a culinary journey, 'Let's cook together' in which they will remove all the cauldrons from the kitchen and teach how to cook the rice dishes, paellas and Cruet Granadella.
The October 19 will make a presentation, "Discover Cala Granadella from its history".
Contact Sur Restaurant
| Tío Catalá Avenue, 35. Cala Granadella View in Google Maps | |
| 965 77 16 12 | |
| restaurantsur.com | |
| restaurantsurgranadella | |
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