Santa Maria de Portbou Parish Church Verified listing

A church erected by the railway company above the station esplanade. It was originally a private chapel belonging to the Planàs family; Claudi Planàs was the director of the Tarragona-Barcelona-France (TBF) railway company. Later, the church was opened to the railway company’s workers and the parish. The church was built between 1878 and 1893 by the Barcelona architect, Joan Martorell i Montells. In 1933, a long staircase was built to climb the hill between the village and the church site, made by the architect from Empordà, Pelai Martínez. On the altarpiece behind the altar is an image of the Virgin sculpted by Frederic Marès. The ambry and the cross are the work of the sculptor Domènec Fita i Molat.