At the top of the Serra de Pinós (Solsonès) is the Hostal de Pinós, the oldest inn in Catalonia. Since 1524, it has operated uninterruptedly, a fact that has recently been corroborated after the magazine Descobrir located the founding document of the establishment.
The discovery has been possible thanks to the investigative work of journalist Narcís Clotet, who was researching for a report that will be published in the April issue of the magazine on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the Hostal de Pinós. It was on a visit to the diocesan archive of Solsona when he found the writing, which the archivist Josep Porredon gave him.
Its pages detail that in 1523 the priest who administers the sanctuary, Narcís Garriga, agreed with Mrs. Pinós (Elisabet de Josa) to transfer the rights to found and manage the hostel, explained in a statement released by Discover.
The administrator asks you to be able to charge for the hostel's services and agrees to provide a host within a year. Later it is certified that in 1524 Joan Bertrans, from Castelltallat, became the first hotelier in Pinós.
The magazine explains that the document contains different pacts and agreements between Mrs. de Pinós and the administrator of the sanctuary, which suggests that it was used for some subsequent judicial case. Currently, the manuscript is in the Diocesan and Regional Museum of Solsona.
In the 1970s, the inn stopped having rooms and began to operate only as a restaurant serving traditional Catalan cuisine, which today is run by Mònica Segués. Hostal de Pinós has survived wars, snowfalls, rains and did not let itself be defeated by the pandemic. An inscription at the entrance that reads that "in the hostel, without money, they give nothing" is one of the original elements that is still preserved.
"The existence of the Hostal de Pinós for half a millennium is an authentic feat with few precedents in the world," said the director of the publication, Joan Morales, who also points out that, with this issue that will include the history of the Hostal de Pinós and which will be presented on April 4 at the Pinós Town Hall, they want to prevent these centuries-old establishments from falling into oblivion.
"Because the Catalan culinary tradition, undoubtedly one of the richest and most notable that we can find, deserves all the recognition," he says. And he adds that "inns and hostels are a basic piece. By tradition, by commitment, by values and by resilience."
