Llançá, Girona 9:00 AM: The sea is molten silver, and the silence is golden. No sign yet of the infamous tramontana, the frigid blasts of wind that blow equal parts madness and genius. However, there is a single cook stirring the first pot of the day in the Miramar kitchen, and 89-year-old matriarch Isabel Buxedas has already settled herself in the entrance to read the newspaper and keep an eye on things.

On the wall behind Isabel is a gallery of black and white photos, a framed family album showing Miramar in bygone days. Founded in 1939 by her late husband’s parents, it was a classic beach bar, complete with plastic chairs and vinyl tablecloths and tourist menus for summer visitors and pilgrims hiking the Cami de Ronda trail around the Cap de Creus. Isabel and her husband Laureà added modest rooms and a restaurant. Over the years, under Chef Paco Pérez, Miramar evolved and joined the movement of Iberian techno-emotional vanguardists. The hikers still trek past on the coastal trail but no longer drop in. A different sort of pilgrim finds their way to Miramar now.