AMERICANS, ARTISTS, RADIO JOURNALISTS…
Hello! Let me introduce myself: I am Cal Passió, and you will find me on Sant Roc street in Vimbodí i Poblet, in the area popularly known as the streets ‘de dalt’ (high streets). I have an exciting name, right? And also quite old. Perhaps it has to do with Easter, or perhaps with some other type of passion… Who knows!
I am a very old house, and if you see me so well now it is because I am living a third youth. My current owners, the Alfonso-Hernández family, rehabilitated me and turned me into a tourist accommodation in 2022, after having spent five decades alone and without much inner life. But in the eighties of the twentieth century I revived temporarily: I housed the studios of the town radio, Ràdio Vimbodí FM, whose voices and music marked an entire generation. What an honour!
But long before, I had already experienced many other interesting stories. As you will have already read in the heading, I have also been linked to Americans and artists: within me, the great painter Adrià Campdesuñer devised and created many of his works… Let’s go step by step…
My history begins several centuries ago: some elements of my interior structure, such as the winery, prove it. But in 1934 I was enlarged and redecorated by the work of my then owners: Joan Torres, who had been a cavalry captain in Cuba, and his wife, Maria Anglès. Both had lived in these ancient Spanish colony at the end of the nineteenth century, and it was there that some of their five children were born. When the Cuban people achieved independence in 1898, the Torres-Anglès returned and settled in the city of Barcelona. However, they maintained their links with Vimbodí and came to visit me from time to time. His American live was reflected in my façade, with tiles made in the color of overseas waters. On the outside, I am made in an eclectic style, with noucentism elements. And inside, I have stone and brick walls, wooden beams and a very original hydraulic floor.
One of the daughters of the family, Laudelina Torres Anglès, born in 1890 in the Cuban city of Camajuaní, became my next owner. Laudelina, popularly known as ‘la Passiona’, married the Barcelona painter and set designer Adrià Campdesuñer Vendrell in 1938. They lived in Barcelona for a year and then settled here, fleeing a desolate city that was about to start the long post-war period. Cal Passió was the final place of residence for the couple, who had no children. For the painter Campdesuñer, his only legacy was artistic: hundreds of magnificent paintings inspired by people and landscapes from Vimbodí i Poblet.
Adrià Campdesuñer was born in 1891 on Princesa street, in Barcelona (at number 16, where, curiously, 120 years later, he opened the European Museum of Modern Art, MEAM), and was baptized in the church of Santa Maria del Mar. His Parents had settled in the Catalan capital after having lived in Argentina for a few years. As you can see, I have doubly links with America… When he was still single, Campdesuñer worked designing sets for the Parthenon Theatre, on Balmes street in Barcelona, and painting for the Ferran Montfalcon Tapestry House, on Boters street.
During his artistic life, both in Barcelona and in Vimbodí, he also created numerous portraits, landscapes and religious paintings, works that were very popular and which he mainly sold to private clients. Highlights his participation as a painter in the altarpiece of the Virgin of Montserrat in the church of Vimbodí, designed by the great architect Josep Maria Jujol, a collaborator of Antoni Gaudí, or the creation of the gigantic painting that presides over the altar of the hermitage dels Torrents of our municipality, with figures inspired by works by Ticiano, Reni, Murillo or Ribera. He also made paintings for other churches and convents in Catalonia, or for people inside and outside the country. And here at Cal Passió you can also see some, made with a very careful technique. I’m sure you’ll like them.
Adrià Campdesuñer died in 1946, at the age of 54, in full creative maturity. In 2016, coinciding with the 125th anniversary of his birth and the 70th anniversary of his death, the Vimbodí i Poblet City Council organized numerous events to honor him and created the annual speed painting contest that bears his name and that of another prominent local painter from the time, Joan Potau Martell. But don’t think that those two were the only great artists we have in town… Another great painter also lived in Vimbodí: Damià Roig Fa, who reached 105 years of age. And Campdesuñer’s wife, Laudelina Torres, also took her first steps as a painter when she was young. For this reason, the painter immortalized her with the artist’s palette in hand in a painting that is now kept in the Town Hall. When she became a widow, she continued to reside here until her death in 1971 at the age of 81. From that moment on, my door was shut and I remained alone for years…
After almost a decade closed, I woke up from my sleep in the eighties, thanks to the young and optimistic voices that broadcast radio programs from my guts. On the ground floor, the radio station Ràdio Vimbodí FM was installed, run by volunteers from the town. The radio booth was located in the current games room, while the sound booth was located inside the old winery, where the library is now located. Both spaces were separated by a glass wall. For a time, music and radio programs reached the homes of the entire town, until the station moved to another location. Then, silence surrounded me again…
Now I want to talk about the present, and about my new life. In 2022 I was reborn as a tourist accommodation for anyone who wants to come and enjoy our town and its surroundings. We have lots of interesting places and experiences!
And if you allow me, and without wanting to be pretentious, I consider myself another attraction: I retain the original shape and character of those who have preceded me, but inside I am completely renovated and adapted to the comforts of present time. My owners -M. Carme, Enric, Jofre and Torrents- they work so that I am fully equipped. And the elders of the family, with experience in tourism and commerce, give them good advice so that my guests enjoy a perfect stay.
You have already known me a little. Now, I invite you to enter and be comfortable in my spaces, as if you were at home!
