TOP FLIGHT
English Summar y
Number 07 /116/ July 2019
Costa
Brava
COLONIAL
BRAVADO,
BEACHES AND
HONEYMOON
R
Residents of the coastal
town of Lloret de Mar have
long been engaged in fish-
ing and trade. However, the
shining moment happened
in 1778 when the king Car-
los III of Spain abolished free
trade by a special decree be-
tween Spain and its colo-
nies in America, and the con-
struction of ships outside
Cádiz. From that moment in
the part, transoceanic ex-
peditions started directly in
Lloret, and the city experi-
enced a boom of shipbuild-
ing during 1800-1840. It was
followed by a wave of those
willing to go to the faraway
lands — to Cuba, Puerto Ri-
co or Brazil — chasing after
big money. Those who made
a successful business in the
overseas regions came back
within a few years not only
with enviable wealth but al-
so with new ideas about fash-
ion and design influenced by
bright colors of Caribbean
tropics. As a result, a whole
neighborhood in the city was
built by the Indians (busi-
nessmen returning from
America were jokingly named
in this manner) which was a
magnificent example of con-
tinental colonial Art Noveau.