Smuggling has traditionally been closely linked to our district for two very evident reasons: the access to the sea and the proximity of a frontier. The periodical crises caused smuggling to increase, and by 1904 the volume was so great that, in view of the fall in business, a number of company owners persuaded the government to pass the Contraband and Public Fraud Act. But it had little effect on the amount of goods being smuggled, and with the arrival of the First World War many of these entrepreneurs themselves entered the contraband racket, later called estraperlo after a type of fraud committed with machines of that name.

The disappearance of physical frontiers with the creation of the single European market has meant that our region is no longer an important centre of contraband: smuggling has now concentrated on the south coast of the Peninsula, but the authorities still often intercept hauls of illegal goods in the Baix Empordà, both on land and at sea.

The shore paths

In the Baix Empordà, smuggling has traditionally been done by sea: until the mid-20th century it was only persecuted on land, because the authorities did not have the resources to control it at sea. In this way, the shore paths running along our coastline, originally used by the garrisons of fortifications to escape from attacks or to warn of danger, became vitally important for the smugglers to escape and for the guards to chase them, and were the main scenes of battle between the two sides. They were also used by the villagers, animal herders and carters.

With the improvements in road networks and the spread of the automobile, these paths fell into disuse and were often swallowed up in the building boom. Nowadays efforts are being made to recover them, and the municipal councils of the Baix Empordà have succeeded in rehabilitating a considerable proportion of them as shore walks. They are situated in extraordinarily beautiful spots where the land meets the sea, offering wonderful walks through totally unspoilt places without affecting the local flora and fauna.