360-degree panoramic views in the Empordanet

What a great view I have of the Empordanet from the Can Mario water tower. I'm in Palafrugell, the town where the prolific writer was born. –and described it in great detail– Josep Pla, who popularized the name Empordanet.

I'm about thirty meters above the pavement of a large square in the center of Palafrugell. As a backdrop, I see Les Gavarres, heavily carpeted with cork oaks, without which this tower would not exist—you'll see why now.–And I have the town at my feet. I glimpse alleys, but mostly chimneys, satellite dishes, and a few solar panels. Now, what I have at my feet is actually –just below– It's a water tank of considerable size. It has a capacity of 56,000 liters, but it's been empty for some time.

We're not at the very top of the tower. Crowning it is a conical cap with a weather vane decorated with the logo of the company that built it, Miquel, Vincke & Meyer.

The Miquel & Vincke company was founded in 1900 to produce cork stoppers primarily by hand, and increasingly by machine. These stoppers were made from cork that, of course, came from the Gavarres region. The construction of the Can Mario tower took place at the beginning of the 20th century, at a time of significant growth for the company. It was during this time that the company reached the astronomical figure of producing one million corks a day. It also produced crown-cork discs and began manufacturing cork paper. Naturally, the number of workers grew exponentially.

Like any cork company, in order to operate it needed plenty of water to boil, wash, steam... That's why this tank was very important, as it had a cooling function and regulated the water pressure - it was necessary to have the water at a certain height so that it would gather momentum to be able to distribute it.–"Palafrugell had a very defective water supply system. There were constant outages, restrictions, and often insufficient water pressure. Many factories sought solutions, usually by digging wells and building reservoirs. This is the case with Miquel & Vincke," explains Àngela Martí, head of the dissemination and collections department. "The Miquel & Vincke area was very large, and the water needed high pressure to reach everywhere," adds Ángela.

Furthermore, the depot was very good if there were fires – Palafrugell did not have adequate services to fight fires.–The company had its own fire department, which operated outside its premises if necessary.

"Has the tower ever been in danger? I mean, has anyone ever tried to tear it down at any point in its more than 100 years?" I ask Ángela. "No, although someone did propose moving it. It's now protected. Since 2000, it's been a Cultural Asset of National Interest, thanks to a citizen initiative," Ángela explains.

"How long was the water tank in operation?" I ask Angela. "We think the tank was in operation until the 1970s; then sections were closed down, leaving only the office and the paper division, until the early 1980s," Angela comments as we make our way briskly down the spiral staircase. The company closed in 1993—it was no longer Miquel & Vincke, but belonged to the American company Armstrong.–Its headquarters now house the Cork Museum of Catalonia, one of the must-see museums of our industrial heritage.

We're now in the square, from where we can see the tower, full of characteristic Modernist elements, such as moldings and leaf motifs. "The tower's ironwork is riveted (a system of joining pieces together using stems with cabochons on both sides), a technique that was used in buildings like the Eiffel Tower," says Ángela.–The iron pieces for the tower were transported from Barcelona to Palamós by boat.

When there is a tramontana wind the tower shakes a little, though It doesn't look like it from below. But it's well-founded, of course! That said, with wind and rain, they don't let you go up.

In Palafrugell, the cork industry still exists, concentrating almost exclusively on the production of wine and cava corks. The cork seems to have a long lifespan, although synthetic materials are a problem.