Figueres is at the centre of a new book that looks at the city’s emotional history through the lives of its people. Benvolguts absents (Beloved Absentees) is the fifth volume in a series by Joan Ferrerós and Josep Valls, and it also covers the wider Empordà area.
The book is presented as a biographical chronicle of Figueres and its surroundings. According to a review in L’Empordà, it works as an emotional map of the city, showing that a place is shaped not only by its streets and buildings, but by the people who lived there and gave it character.
The authors aim to preserve the stories of people who can be overlooked in daily life. Their pages bring together individual lives and help record a period of local history, with the review describing the book as a way of rescuing those lives from silence.
The volume includes figures from many parts of urban life, including artists, professors, journalists, doctors, cultural activists, feminists, politicians, editors, popular figures, spies, athletes and priests. Some were well known, others more discreet, but all are presented as part of Figueres’ collective identity and its invisible heritage.
The review says urban memory acts as a sentimental archive, helping residents understand the present. It also notes that remembering can be an act of resistance and justice when cities change quickly and the people behind them are left out of view.
Benvolguts absents is described as gentle in tone, with curious anecdotes that add warmth without drama. The review says the portraits evoke a generation marked by wars, exile, cultural renewal and major social change, while the title is framed not as a farewell, but as a greeting.
The publication continues a project focused on documenting the human stories behind Figueres’ history, so that the contributions of past residents remain part of the city’s identity for future generations. For more local coverage, see our news page.