Portlligat and this house were also personally formative for Dali. "My painting cannot be understood without first getting to know Portlligat," Dali said. "I am bound forever to Portlligat, where I have defined all my most sincere truths, and my roots." He also claimed that he was the first man in Spain to see the sun rise, due to Portlligat's location on the far-eastern corner of the country.