Gaudí and the Cathedral, decorated bridges and Pau Casals year: 10 must-see stops in Girona, Time of Flowers

GironaWith the news of an agreement in extremis between workers and the garbage collection company to call off the strike that threatened to adorn the city with filth, Girona is finalizing preparations for the event that attracts more people to the city each year: Temps de Flors. A show born in the fifties and consolidated from 1979 onwards, which reaches a record number of visitors each edition. In 2025, it reached 400,000 in just nine days, in a city of just over 100,000 inhabitants.

The exhibition, which takes place from May 9 to 17 and is now in its 71st edition, includes 141 floral projects spread across 113 different spaces and a battery of new features. Since the pandemic, Temps de Flors has been expanding into more areas of the city to try to avoid overcrowding in the Old Town, and this year it reaches Pont Major, included in the Generalitat's neighborhood plan. We review ten must-see stops with the main novelties of this edition.

"The Cathedral stairs are living their Gaudí Year this year", explained the deputy mayor of Girona, Gemma Geis, during the press conference presenting Temps de Flors. It is a project conceived and coordinated by Teresa Vidal, a doctor and expert in Gaudí's work, which incorporates Gerundense mythology through the builder of giants and popular imagery, Nuxu Perpinyà.

Thanks to the Easter procession, led by architect Jordi Faulí, the connection between the Sagrada Familia and Girona became known. And it is that Gaudí was invited to check the resistance of the daring vault of the cathedral with the widest nave in the world in 1902, during a visit to Girona accompanied by the Mallorcan linguist Antoni M. Alcover. Inside the basilica of Sant Feliu there will also be a reference to the Gaudí Year.

The tributes continue with the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Pau Casals' birth, with two projects around peace and music, located in Natàlia Molero i Lloret square, in the Devesa neighborhood (next to the CINC) and in the Garden of Peace, outside the Carles Rahola library next to Emili Grahit and the Casernes park. In the case of Devesa, on May 9th at 4:30 PM there will be a musical performance of cello with the reading of Pau Casals' speech to the UN. The following weekend, every day at 12 PM, there will also be string concerts.

But the main tribute will be during the exhibition's opening, on Saturday, May 9th at 11:30 AM in the German garden. For the first time in 71 editions, emphasis will be placed on a group that has always sought to go unnoticed: the organizers of the army of a thousand volunteers who make "Tiempo de Flores" possible each year. It is the Association of Friends of Flowers, which could well say "friends" of flowers, as they are predominantly women and of advanced age.

It is in the German garden where they have one of the bases of operations, next to where their secretary, Montse Galí, lives. She has been dedicated to this for over fifty years, just like the president of the entity, Anna Maria Figa, who this year will once again decorate one of the crown jewels of "Tiempo de Flores": the central space of the Arab baths. "It's my great dream," says Figa, accompanied by the new generations who have joined the team, such as Helena Vilaseca, who participates with her whole family.

Another of the new features for 2026 is that after many years, the four bridges connecting the Old Quarter will once again be decorated, with the exception of the Stone Bridge. The Sant Feliu bridge is incorporated, which is added to the already traditional bridges of Sant Agustí, les Peixateries Velles (also Eiffel or Iron Bridge), and en Gómez. It is important to consider them because three of them, during the Flower Season, are one-way to avoid crowds.

Temps de Flors is not the only thing in the Old Quarter. The exhibition continues to expand throughout the city and this year it reaches Pont Major, on the border with Sarrià, following the Ter. A large wooden pergola covered with lattices and reeds will welcome neighbors and visitors. "We have also made two tunnels for the little ones to play in," explains Xavier Ventura, from the Orígenes de Bioconstrucción school team, who has been in charge of carrying out the intervention with the help of the Neighborhood Plan.

As new spaces, in this case in the Barri Vell, we will see the gardens of Sant Feliu (located on the ascent of Sant Feliu) decorated, the fountain of the Archaeological Walk, number 2 of Miquel Oliva i Prat street (in the small square of the Old Post Office) and the facade of number 2 of Lluís Batlle i Prats street. But perhaps one of the significant changes is that the main sponsoring companies decorate a new space. La Caixa leaves the Arab Baths and concentrates on the Carbonera, where access will be possible from Ballesteries street towards the History Museum to improve the flow of people. And BBVA changes the basements of the Cathedral for the moat upon exiting the cloister to the Archaeological Walk.

Amidst the whirlwind of mass tourism during Temps de Flors, especially from groups of French retirees, the City Council has decided to incorporate two Calm Space points in the Old Town, one located at Fontana d'Or (CaixaFòrum) and another at the Barri Vell-Mercadal Civic Center. They are designed especially for neurodivergent people and for breastfeeding, but open to anyone who needs a break. In the Angel garden, behind the Cathedral, a Rest Space is also set up for resting with benches. Remember that there are six entry and exit points in the Old Town to do the route in a single direction.

Flores Time is also music and the A Cappella festival is not to be missed in Independence Square, with free concerts during the week at 7 PM and on weekends at 6 PM. The successful format of a concert by the Capella Polifònica de Girona in the monastery of Sant Daniel is also repeated (advance booking required), while the headliner is Lemon Squeezy, winners of the world barbershop style competition, with a concert at the Auditorium on May 15th.

Popular culture will not only extend along the Cathedral steps at the hands of Gaudí this Temps de Flors. This Sunday the Diada Castellera returns to Sant Feliu square, the entrance to the Barri Vell, organized by the Marrecs de Salt and with Capgrossos de Mataró, Xics de Granollers, and Sagals d'Osona as invited groups.

The final closing of Temps de Flors on Sunday, May 17th will be accompanied by International Museum Day, where all except Casa Masó will have their doors open for free throughout the day. Another way to discover the city: moving from visiting private courtyards that open to people with flowers to also learning about the history, art, and traditions of Girona.