Sant Hilari, the summer centre
In the second half of the 19th century, Sant Hilari became a large spa area, after the water from Font Picant was declared for public consumption in 1880 thanks to the discovery by Doctor Gravalosa. This fact brought great prosperity to the town.
The first tourists came to the town during the summer in order to enjoy the nature, the space, the tranquility and the environment. In general, the people that came were different and important figures. The main people where bourgeoisie, who had high purchasing power. The peace and the tranquility that they found in Sant Hilari was a big reason to come. Furthermore, the waters were classified as bicarbonated, calcicolous and with weak mineralization. In other words, they are a high quality water and apreciated to be at the table.
During the second part of the 20th century, the summer centre recieved more nomber of visitors, which also represented an economic increase for the town. Sant Hilari had a big hotel offer, and the fountains stopped having a sane interest in order to convert to a point of playtime for the visitors and also the town people.
Years later, the bottling of the mineral waters became one of the most important economic sector of the town.
