Passeig dels Anglesos , located on the seafront, was initially nothing more than the back of Carrer Ciutat de la Paz. However, at the beginning of the 20th century it started to acquire its own personality and, in imitation of the famous promenade in Nice from which it takes its name (Promenade des Anglais), it too developed as a result of a desire to make it the most emblematic street of the town. One of its peculiarities is the eclectic styles of the houses on the Promenade. There are popular Mediterranean-style houses, neo-classical and nineteenth-century-style houses, designed by some of the most eminent architects of the time, such as Jeroni Martorell, Salvador Sellés, Enric Sagnier, Emili Cabanyes and Nicolau Rubió i Tudurí, among others.
Almost all the detached houses on Passeig dels Anglesos were built in the short 3-year period between 1917 and 1920, despite the fact that its proper town planning was not carried out until 1925 (adding borders to pavements, paving, etc.), in accordance with the English model of garden city.
During the Civil War, many summer residences – abandoned for fear of looting by anarchist platoons – were occupied by foreign embassies that felt safer in Caldes than in the bombed Barcelona.
In the 1970s, with the building excesses of the time and taking advantage of the lack of property protection laws, many homes were demolished to be turned into blocks of flats. Only the few that have survived remind us of the past splendour of Caldes’ own Promenade des Anglais.
OTHER INTERESTING POINTS
1. Santema and the Palau Foundation Street
2. The Thermal Baths
3. Capella del Remei
4. Parròquia de Santa Maria (Parish of St. Mary)
5. The Watchtowers
6. The Old Town Centre and the Lime Kiln
7. Capella del Carme and Carrer d´El Callao Street
8. The Railway Station
9. Caldes and Joan Maragall
10. Passeig dels Anglesos
11. Hotel Colón and the Sea Baths
12. The Mills
13. Can Comillas and Can Nadal
14. Can Vidal, Hotels and Inns
15. Can Muntanyà Park