1970s Sitges | 1970s Spain | 1970s Holidays | Wish you were here? | 1975

'Wish you were here?' Presenter takes a trip to the Spanish resort town of Sitges, in the Catalonia region, southwest of Barcelona,
First shown: 06/03/1975
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Quote: VT9454

[@fessellsahmed2587]

I was 7 years old when this show was shown. Its magical as its shows how Spain was in those days.

[@mjc5509]

The years have seen drastic changes in SITGES ....especially that very popular week with beared men.....woof!

[@stevepollard7107]

Love the sunbathing in amongst all the fishing boats on the beach. Feels like the show caught the changeover from fishing to tourism as a key industry in Spain.

[@Springbok295]

The kids playground looked like the sort we played on as kids. All steel pipes, chains, and rock. If you got hurt, tough luck kiddo. Just remember to keep your mouth closed when you hit something so you wouldn't lose a tooth.

[@sirbarringtonwomblembe4098]

Cheers, Gumsy!

[@hopebgood]

Back in the early 70's dad would always drive us down to Spain through France. I definitely remember stopping off at Sitges but I also have this vague sort of memory of us staying at one hotel for 2 or 3 nights and then doing an early runner and not paying the bill! Dad's sadly dead now and mum's like "oh....I don't remember that." I do

[@doktoruzo]

That £14,500 price for the apartment was expensive back in 1975. In today's money equivalent, that works out at about £122,500. The average UK house price in 1975 was approx. £10,500. £12,000 would have bought you a nice detached house in one of London's smarter areas...which would probably be worth over £1 million by now.

[@yuikibz3171]

I don't think those numbers are quite right. My parents bought a house in Bent Cross in 1977 and paid £28,000. A nice house but nothing extraordinary.

[@fessellsahmed2587]

I loved watching this.

[@purpura1153]

No es Costa Dorada, pertenece a Barcelona la ciudad más hermosa del mundo Sitges!!!!! A pesar de lo que dicen es un destino totalmente seguro!!!!! Cuidamos mucho a nuestros turistas❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@elliottgascoigne8916]

Claro sitgetano hasta la muerte

[@purpura1153]

@@elliottgascoigne8916 amo a Sitges!!!!!! Es muy especial para mí, crecí ahí..... Y si hasta la muerte con Sitges😜😜😜😜❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@elliottgascoigne8916]

@@purpura1153 ❤❤

[@carmenlopezperez3463]

Gracias 💋 💋

[@duncanb9752]

No Parrots pub drag night? What kind of travel review is this?!

[@151066MC]

Shame she didn't go into the town

[@ab-ig1cu]

Love this place.

[@theindividualizt]

Sites is classy. I can highly recommend it.

[@Bally1001]

I thought you were talking about Sitges for a second....."Classy" is not the first word that comes to my mind. Not when I compare memories of my childhood holidays there in the sixties to what it's like today.

[@mulemanism]

And here is the children’s playground, enter the tumbleweed and squeak of rusty equipment. 😂

[@alantorr4761]

Is it me, or did Judith look like Eddie Izzard in the still shot? 😂

[@paulanderson79]

I don't know. Do you look like Eddie Izzard?

[@RockMonster1000]

Oh behave!

[@markhealey9409]

😂😂😂😂

[@glynnjr2378]

01:04 "you -tril - oh" (Utrillo) - Judith never did Spanish very well.

[@markhealey9409]

Seriously...you would've hoped educated Brits even in the 70s would've been better at Spanish pronunciation,especially a travel presenter IN a Spanish speaking country!🙄🙄

[@ManInTheBigHat]

We arrived in Mallorca in 1970. Still had donkey carts.

[@ferkara8223]

So bad film about a so nice village, Sitges. We only look a small para of the village. However the Sitges of the 50,60 and 70 it was magic, different than others village of the Mediterranean. It was a village full of liberty; the first or second prefer where for gay tourist in Europe. Sitges was a fantastic.

[@laurixo.m1024]

❤❤❤👏👏

[@whi5tler_1337]

*_I'm going just for that massive amusement park... sorry, children's playground. I couldn't tell the difference_* 🏖️

[@MrDavey2010]

The commentary is really odd dwelling on things tourists don’t really need to know and missing out things they do. Weird!

[@Omnicient.]

A time when her type thought of things that we wouldn't. I love the camera work; drifting off needlessly to show us nothing or to show a lorry passing?! She made the location so unappealing!

[@blackpool321]

All that glistens.

[@aviationiceman9549]

Before it was destroyed !

[@commonsense9176]

Looks like early Bowie on thumbnail

[@chrisd5610]

Sitges definitely attracts a different sort of demographic these days!

[@th8257]

And? Are gay people not allowed to go on holiday? You say it like it's something extraordinary or something to be laughed at.

[@rincemor]

It attracted gays in the 1970's but I presume that couldn't be mentioned on Wish You Were Here. I have older friends who were there I think in 1976 and stayed in the Romantic. The most popular bar then was the Comodin. As far as I know Paul, who was a co-owner of Bar 7, was a bar man in the Comodin then. I first went in 1991 and it has changed a lot since then. There was a pub crawl every night when you had to follow the crowd to each bar, ending up in the Mediterraneo. There were a number of bars in the same street as the Mediterraneo including Azul, Bourbons and El Reflejos (which became ManBar). The Piano bar further down the street was then called Spray. Those were the days.

[@jrhamersma3248]

Danny Boyd Were they gay? Homosexuality was only legalised in 1979 after the adoption of the democratic constitution (Franco died in 1975). Gay bars already existed before Franco died but weren’t they afraid? Sitges has always been a liberal place but the laws of Franco’s Spain were still the law in 1976, a year after the death of the dictator.

[@rincemor]

JR. The Comedin was a gay bar back then. Homosexuality was illegal in Northern Ireland until 1983 but there was still a couple of bars frequented by gays and one dance club in Belfast. It was also illegal in the Republic of Ireland until I think 1989 but Dublin had bars and a gay sauna before then. Sitges had always attracted artists and liberals even in Franco’s time (Catalonia was also known to be anti-Franco).

[@rincemor]

@ Not so, the gay scene in Belfast was always mixed, as gays were denounced by both religions. It was also the only social scene that remained in the city centre at the height of the Troubles. Most other people socialised in their own areas or around the middle class district near to the university. The Carpenters club that I attended didn’t have a bar but you could bring your own drink (this was common back then). It had a great hi-nrg record collection though and a good dance floor.

[@DominicBellThreeBlackDots]

Ah yes. Judith Chalmers' condescending Brit abroad really hasn't aged well. Sitges charm and beauty seems to been slightly lost on this perma tanned correspondent...

[@hutchcraftcp]

The American Rambler station wagon looking out of place parked up with the Seats.

[@markhealey9409]

Makes me wonder if the Rambler was probably driven there by an American military person,stationed in Europe?! In Franco's España,imported vehicles were mostly,if not totally forbidden....foreign brands had to make deals with Spanish auto factories in order to produce & sell their vehicles in España. The only American car I know of that was sold in España,and built there by tbeir Chrysler division, was a mid-sizedDodge sedan/saloon...quite popular with the Spanish police and government officials. Lots of British, Italiano & French cars,at least,were made under license in España,back then,including Land Rovers. Seat,I think,was,and still is,the only mainstream Spanish car brand...Seat was a Fiat subsidiary there using all of the Fiat designs & names,until VW bought Seat in around 1990.

[@sirbarringtonwomblembe4098]

The aphorism is attributed to Shakespeare's 'Merchant of Venice', & is actually "All that GLISTERS is not gold". No need to thank me!

[@Sydney4680]

The camps capacity is just 8,000 OMG....yuck

[@simonnelson7770]

A different far more innocent time. From the mid 80s the world went down the drain and isn't even remotely near what it was

[@volvos60bloke]

They were desperate, miserable times. But worry not - the UK is going back to those days.

[@felix2672]

Ok boomer

[@vasili1207]

Ok booms was so 2010 grow up

[@ceilingsandfloors]

@@vasili1207 Pretty sure people didn't start using that term until...last year?

[@jrhamersma3248]

Innocent? Spain was still a dictatorship in 1975. Tourist only liked it because they didn’t live under Franco rule permanently. The world went down the drain? You think east bloc countries were better off under communism? During the Cold War the amount of authoritarian right wing and left wing governments were double the amount of now.

[@gilesrush1703]

2024 still havent solved the traffic problems

[@Robbiewa-bg4lu]

I assume this was post Franco?

[@Earhairy]

The film is dated 1974, and he died in November 1975 after a long illness, with Juan Carlos installed as acting head of state.

[@Robbiewa-bg4lu]

@@Earhairy Yes I see the date.Maybe Franco’s Spain was not that bad after all.

[@tina5203]

Typically overcrowded !!

[@almudenacarnero7934]

Tankese ya te contaré contaré contare

[@Mike.Garcia]

migwell lol

[@AntGeezer]

Not even steak and chips for 60p would have made me want to visit. It looked awful!

[@felipemas9234]

A los habitantes de Sitges no les importara lo mas minimo que no les visite un tonto irrespetuoso como usted.

[@steviehope7718]

Judith charmers eh, what a legend. She got some right gigs....that's not innuendo by the way 😂

[@Jesuis-qe8ql]

alguien habla español por aqui o de México??? does anyone speak spanish around here or Mexico???

[@elliottgascoigne8916]

Claro vivo en este pueblo. Mira tambien el autodromo de terramar

[@Jesuis-qe8ql]

@@elliottgascoigne8916 ok grasias

[@MediaFilter]

@0:10 "Gerrlld" @0:16 "Gerrllden kerrsst" Accent: R.P. English - made for the BBC - poshly ridiculous!

[@yaelzivanartist]

What is her problem? Did she date the mayor and get cheated on? Why does she hate Spain so much