‘The best thing about Sitges? Its people'. A recurring question and a concurring answer. The fact that the Mediterranean washes our shores, that blue and white get along very well, that we have a truly unique historic center and one of the most recognizable seafront skylines in southern Europe, that our museums are a benchmark of Modernisme in Catalonia and Spain... Well yes, that really is the case. But when you ask anyone who comes and goes (and comes back again), they’ll almost always answer the same thing: the best thing about Sitges is its people. And if the best thing is its people (open, tolerant, diverse, curious, musical and ‘carnivalesque’), it’s because they make their presence felt. And despite everything that’s going on, they are demonstrating it once again.

Sitges’ people means personal names. Locals with first and last names who confirm that when you come, you will be very well accompanied. For starters, one of the first people you meet may be Carmen García, a tourist information officer. Well, you should know that Carmen has traded the maps and the guidebooks for butter, yeast and cinnamon and has been making cakes that she would later take to the intensive care team (ICU) at the Sant Camil Hospital. “It all started because a friend of mine who is a nurse, Vinyet, got transferred to the ICU for patients with coronavirus; she had so much work, suffering from vertigo, fear, understandably… and I thought about how I could help her and the rest of the team”. So she started making cookies and muffins to sweeten what undoubtedly must have been some very tough and intense days for Vinyet and her colleagues. "Why did I do it? Well, because as a song by the group ‘Txarango’ says, living means taking a stand; and it is in our hands, in everyone's hands, to solve the problems that affect us all. ”

So now you know her: Carmen García is a part of Sitges’ heritage. She really is a ‘brand image’, as well as an ‘influencer’ (and unfiltered, OK!). And like her, so many others. Another example: Alba Gràcia, coordinator of the Sitges Malvasia Interpretation Center. Do you know what Alba has been doing at the Sitges Sant Joan Baptista Hospital Foundation’s nursing home? Coordinating video calls with relatives for the people living shut away there. Alba has been the architect of an essential emotional bridge for those who need it most. Because if I can see you, you're closer to me. Thank you Alba.

Also a big THANKS in capital letters to Miquel Ferreres, who turned the Sitges Meliá Hotel (he’s the manager there) into a field hospital; THANKS to Zuleima Capo, who implemented her kitchen at the La OCA restaurant to prepare menus for the Sant Camil Hospital-Home; THANKS to Núria Carbonell, secretary of the Sitges Development Board and one of the 160 prodigious seamstresses in Sitges who sewed face masks for locals and municipal volunteers, and THANKS as well to Alejandro Eguía, manager of the Sitges Hotel Association, which has awarded 1,200 overnight stays to those weary but irreducible heroes who are our health professionals.

These fellow residents are just a small percentage of those who give meaning and a reality to the Yes, to Sitges - Yes, to Solidarity campaign, an initiative to which more new names will be added in the weeks ahead. A sum that has the soul of multiplication: we are still waiting for you and looking forward to seeing you sooooooooooo much. Signed: the people of Sitges. #YesToSitges #SitgesAnytime #Solidarity