The bronze statue of Salvador Dalí stands on the seafront promenade of Cadaqués, in the middle of Platja Gran, between the Marítim and Boia bars. The tourist office attributes it to the sculptor Ros Sabaté, dates it to 1972 and says it was donated by Captain John Peter Moore, the painter's former secretary.
Almost everyone who comes to Cadaqués takes the same photo: Salvador Dalí in bronze, standing on the sand of Platja Gran, cane in one hand and the bay behind him. It is one of the stops in Cadaqués with the most reviews on TripAdvisor. Fewer people know who made it, that at the entrance to the village there is another statue linked to the same man, a Statue of Liberty with both arms raised, or that its authorship is still disputed. This guide tells the story of both and runs through the other sculptures you come across on a walk.
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Where the Dalí statue is
It stands on the seafront promenade, on the central stretch of Platja Gran. According to Catalan Wikipedia, it is between the beach's two historic bars, the Marítim and the Boia, both listed as cultural assets of local interest. Dalí is shown standing, with a cane, on a stone pedestal; the photos on Wikimedia Commons show him facing the village with the sea behind him.
Who made it and who gave it
The Cadaqués tourist office attributes it to the sculptor Ros Sabaté, dates it to 1972 and explains that it was donated by Captain John Peter Moore, the painter's former secretary. Joaquim Ros i Sabaté was born in Barcelona in 1936, the son of the sculptor Joaquim Ros i Bofarull, and trained at the Escola de la Llotja, finishing in 1957.
He made several well-known sculptures in Barcelona, such as "Esportistes del mar" (1969), on the Moll de la Fusta, or the clown Charlie Rivel (1972). The Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana dates his monument to Dalí in Cadaqués to 1998, not 1972. The sources disagree, so both dates are given here.
The Liberty with two torches
At the entrance to the village there is a Statue of Liberty unlike the one in New York: it raises both arms and holds a torch in each hand. According to a report in the newspaper Ara from August 2022, Captain Moore announced in September 1994 that he would give Cadaqués a Liberty designed by Dalí. It was unveiled on 23 April 1995. It is about seven metres tall, was cast in Bologna and, before arriving, was displayed at Perpignan station. The Town Council built the pedestal, which houses a tourist office.
Moore said that Dalí had drawn a Liberty with both arms raised after visiting the original in 1969, and produced a letter from September 1972 in which the painter granted him the rights to "the double and surrealist Statue of Liberty". In January 1995 the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí concluded that it could not be considered a work by Dalí, but a piece derived from Bartholdi's statue and from a drawing of his. In the village, signatures were collected against it and also in favour. According to the same report, in 2022 the Fundació was still studying the piece for its sculpture catalogue: the question of who made it remains open.
A museum that no longer exists
Captain Moore also had a museum of his own in Cadaqués. According to Giromus, the directory of museums in Girona, the Centre d'Art Perrot-Moore opened in 1978 in the former Hotel Cap de Creus and in 1988 moved to the village's old theatre-cinema. It was private, it is now closed and its works were taken to near Paris.
The other sculptures in the village
The Cadaqués tourist office keeps a list of the municipality's sculptures. By Llané beach is the tribute to Federico García Lorca, by J. M. Subirachs, which recalls the poet's visits to the Dalí family house. On Ses Oliveres beach, "The Four Winds of the Sea", by François Stahly. On Portlligat beach, "The Boat and the Cypress", by Salvador Dalí, and in the bay of Portlligat, the sculpture dedicated to Rosa Leveroni, by Emília Xargay.
The bronze figure of Lídia de Cadaqués is by Ramon Moscardó, and the list places it on the riba Pitxot and on the avinguda Víctor Rahola. The most hidden one is in the municipal cemetery: "Girl", in marble, by the modernista sculptor Josep Llimona. With the list in hand, a walk along the seafront and on to Portlligat turns into a small open-air sculpture trail.
Checked
Data checked in October 2026 against: the Cadaqués tourist office (visitcadaques.org, sculptures), Catalan Wikipedia (Platja Gran de Cadaqués; Joaquim Ros i Sabaté), Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana (Joaquim Ros i Sabaté), Ara (report on the Statue of Liberty of Cadaqués, 28 August 2022), Giromus (museums of Cadaqués) and Wikimedia Commons (photographs of the statue).
Quick questions
Who made the Dalí statue in Cadaqués?
Joaquim Ros i Sabaté, according to the tourist office, which dates it to 1972; the Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana dates his monument to Dalí in Cadaqués to 1998.
Why does the Statue of Liberty in Cadaqués have two torches?
Because Captain Moore presented it as a design by Dalí with both arms raised. It was unveiled on 23 April 1995, but in January 1995 the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí concluded that it could not be considered a work by Dalí.
What other sculptures are there in Cadaqués?
Among others, the tribute to Federico García Lorca by J. M. Subirachs by Llané beach, "The Four Winds of the Sea" by François Stahly at Ses Oliveres and "Girl" by Josep Llimona in the cemetery.