Salou. Costa Dorada. 25 July 2025.
In the 50s and 60s of the last century, in full development of tourism in Salou and the Costa Dorada, the renowned architect Antonio Bonet Castellana (Barcelona 1913-1989) was one of those who contributed to develop urban Cap Salou, seeking adaptation to the environment and integration with the landscape.
This is how Casa Rubio, the Cala Vinya, Cyprus, Reus and Madrid apartments, and various facilities in Cala Crancs, arise from his hand. In Cala Vinya, Bonet built the hotel of the same name in 1962, one of his most emblematic works. After 20 years closed, the hotel company SunClub has recovered it and has located in the lobby the Antonio Bonet Castellana Architectural Classroom, a permanent space for disclosure of the figure and work of one of the most influential Catalan architects of the 20th century.
The Classroom has been one of the conditions of the Department of Culture of the Generalitat and the City of Salou in the hotel company to compensate, with a return to society, the modification of the urban regulations necessary to carry out the rehabilitation of the hotel, which has maintained the original structure and retro air.
The exhibition, which will always be open to the public, contains explanatory texts about Bonet’s life and projects, photographs, vinyl and models, and some pieces of furniture designed by him, such as the famous BKF armchair. The exhibition is commissioned by researchers from the URV School of Architecture in Reus Juan Fernando Ródenas, Carlos Gonzalvo and Gilermo Zuaznabar, and with photographs by Manolo Laguillo.
During the inauguration of the Classroom, which was attended by the daughter of the architect Victoria Bonet, the mayor of Salou, Pere Granados, stressed that "Antonio Bonet has been one of the most important contemporary architects in Catalonia, and his footprint in Salou is unquestionable." For this reason, he said that "recovering one of its most emblematic buildings and turning it into a permanent space for architectural dissemination is a necessary recognition of a key figure in the urban configuration of Cap Salou. Bonet is part of our collective memory and must be claimed as a cultural and heritage asset of the first order”.
For his part, the rector of the URV, Josep Pallarès, has highlighted that “this exhibition makes an unconventional space, such as a coastal hotel, a knowledge classroom that enriches the visitor experience and contributes to the dissemination of university research”.
Finally, Albert Savé, representing SunClub Hotels, explained that “the challenge has been important since we have had to recover both the volumetry and the materials used in the original building, which had been lost over time”.
The rehabilitation project of the hotel has been drafted by the architect Meritxell Solé, who has designed the intervention since the beginning together with the URV, the City of Salou and the hotel company.
Lectures on Antonio Bonet
For the link of Antonio Bonet Castellana with Salou, the City Council has organized a cycle of conferences with the aim of highlighting various facilities and works of the architect in the municipality, with the aim of deepening the contribution of Bonet to the urban development, cultural and heritage of Salou.
