Empordà (Catalan pronunciation: [əmpurˈða]) is a natural and historical region of Catalonia, Spain, divided since 1936 into two comarques, Alt Empordà and Baix Empordà. The city of Figueres, an important urban and economic center of the Empordà, was designated the capital of Alt Empordà, while La Bisbal d'Empordà, following a more geographic and historical criteria, became the capital of Baix Empordà. Empordà has been the cradle for many pictoric schools, with surrealism being an outstanding one, and artist such as Salvador Dalí, Angel Planells, Joan Massanet and Evarist Vallès.