The most intimate Dalí

It’s said that the early years of our lives are decisive for our future. After persisting for thirty years, the city of Figueres is opening up the Salvador Dalí birthplace and home to the public, where the local genius’s early years can be discovered. Welcome to the only space in the world that interprets every side of Dalí.

Entering someone’s home for the first time feels like spying. Everything around us seems to give clues about the most intimate life of its inhabitants. When we leave, we feel like we know them a little better. This is how we feel when we set foot in the Salvador Dalí birthplace and home in Figueres. His Portlligat home and museum and the Dalí Museum in Figueres have been open for years, but the opportunity to visit the birthplace and home of the surrealist virtuoso is brand new and took ages to become a reality.

Locals likely know it by heart: Salvador Dalí was born on May 11, 1904 on Monturiol Street, a central avenue in the Alt Empordà capital. His first cries rang out there in a modernist building that had been built six years earlier and in which several families lived. On the ground floor, Dalí’s father worked as a notary, while their apartment was on the main floor and his grandmother and aunt lived above them.

When Dalí was about to turn four, they welcomed a new member to the family: his sister Anna Maria. The two children spent many hours on the large terrace enjoying unbeatable views: colorful flowers, plentiful plants, and birds in search of shade. This area of the apartment was so important in their family life that, when new buildings were constructed on the gardens and the terrace lost its allure they changed homes. Dalí had spent the first eight years of his life in that building, which remained standing without further connection to the artist until today. Who wouldn’t want to discover the home of young Dalí?

At the entrance we’re given an audio guide that is automatically synchronized to each room, making the visit a breeze. The journey starts with the help of a narrator who recounts the experiences of young Salvador and his family and, of course, one of the first stops is the notary’s office, where prominent people from early twentieth century Figueres passed. Then we climb the same stairs that the artist often climbed and, through screens, we can imagine the magnificent terrace where the Dalí siblings often played. But life goes on and, as we climb the stairs, Dalí grows older.

We go through his formative period, starting with Figueres and traveling to Madrid, where he met artists such as Luis Buñuel and Federico García Lorca. We also discover his first encounter with Gal.la and realize how important she will become in his life. Then we visit Paris, London, and New York, where Dalí had contact with leading figures of the era such as Alfred Hitchcock, Walt Disney, and Andy Warhol.

Dalí’s voice speaks to us through the audio guide and lets us enter his mind. Leaving behind the artist’s eccentricities, we discover some of his deepest thoughts about art, physics, mathematics, or the horror of the atomic bomb. Through the audio guide, holograms, screens, and immersive sounds we also discover who was really behind one of the most recognizable mustaches in history. Don’t miss out on the Salvador Dalí's birthplace and home! //