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How visiting Catalonia's natural parks benefits local communities

Glimpse wildlife, history and wilderness while bringing income and jobs to rural Catalonia by exploring its parks

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Words by Esme Fox

Tucked into the north-eastern corner of Spain sits the region of Catalonia, bordered by the Pyrenees, Andorra and France to the north, Aragon to the west and the Mediterranean to the east. While most travellers are well acquainted with the touristic hubs of Barcelona, Girona and the Costa Daurada, it’s the region’s interior and natural side that foreign visitors have yet to discover.

Photo by Joshua Kettle 

A total of 32% of Catalonia is protected. It’s home to 13 natural parks and one national park, all spread over the four provinces of Girona, Tarragona, Lleida and Barcelona. Landscapes range from wetland river estuaries and craggy coastal bays to towering peaks and glacial lakes.

 

The majority of its parks, however, are within the Pyrenees, a vast wilderness where rugged mountaintops punctuate verdant valleys, and freshwater streams flow freely. It’s also where you’ll find the majority of Catalonia’s wildlife, including brown bears, wild boars, mountain goats, deer, lynx and birds of prey such as vultures and eagles. In total, 330 bird species call this region home – more than half of those that exist in the whole of Spain.

Close up image of goat

What’s unique about Catalonia’s parks is that they don’t only celebrate the natural world, but also embrace historical and architectural elements too. They’re strewn with vestiges of the past, including grand monasteries, Romanesque architecture, medieval villages, archaeological ruins and even prehistoric sites.

 

Each park offers a slightly different experience, coupled with trails that span different lengths and terrains. But you don’t have to be an experienced hiker to enjoy them; you can get taste of the Spanish wilderness in only a few hours. Best of all, just by visiting these areas you can help out local communities.

Fem Parc Project

The Fem Parc Project was designed to promote ecotourism within Catalonia’s natural parks at the same time as stimulating the local economy. It does this by encouraging residents in and around the parks to embrace their setting by developing offerings for tourists, thus creating new jobs.

 

The project is encouraging visitors to rural areas, drawing them away from busier places like Barcelona. By providing them opportunities for trekking, wildlife spotting, wine excursions, olive oil tastings, gastronomy tours and cultural visits, the money that brings in can in turn help support rural communities.

Many of Catalonia’s natural parks sit within areas of rich gastronomical heritage, adding another layer to the types of tour on offer here. For example, Urgell and Cerdanya cheeses come from the region around Parc Natural del Cadí-Moixeró and have a protected designation of origin (DO), while Montsant and Priorat DO wines come from the vineyards around Parc Natural de la Serra de Montsant.

 

The money from these tours and activities is then ploughed back into the local economy. In addition, 5% from any Fem Parc tour goes towards local conservation projects, such as reintroducing endangered species, replanting and water preservation. The following are just a few parks in which you can both explore and give back.

Catalonia's Natural Parks

Parc Natural de l'Alt Pirineu

Sitting to the west of Andorra, just below the French border, Alt Pirineu is the largest natural park in Catalonia, spanning over 80,000 hectares and filled with bottle-green valleys, fresh mountain lakes and forest-clad peaks. Among these is the Virós Forest, which is among the most extensive and important wilderness areas in Catalonia. Roe and fallow deer stalk its meadows; vultures, buzzards and golden eagles soar overhead.

 

The park is home to the highest peak in Catalonia – Pica d’Estats (3,143m) – and has a rich archaeological and architectural heritage. There is evidence here of pastoral activity ranging from the Neolithic period to the Middle Ages, as well as Ibero-Roman mines and ancient dolmens. The park has a great religious significance, too, and it is dotted with houses of worship such as the sanctuary of Arboló, the church of Santa Maria d’Àneu and the hermitage of Santa Magdalena. The area also saw intense activity during and after the Spanish Civil War, leaving behind several bunkers to explore.

Parc Nacional d’Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici

Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici is Catalonia’s only National Park. Set within the north-western corner of the region, deep in the Pyrenees, its snow-capped, sky-high crests rise to more than 3,000 metres against a backdrop of emerald coloured valleys. Water is an integral part of the park, which is veined with rivers, waterfalls, ponds, glacial valleys and almost 200 lakes.

 

The most remarkable of these is Lake Sant Maurici (after which the park is named), whose glassy waters reflect the mountainous surrounds. It’s a popular spot for adventure sports, with trails set aside for hiking, mountain biking, mountaineering, and skiing in the winter

Parc Natural del Cadí-Moixeró

Lying south-east of Andorra, Cadí-Moixeró is named after the two mountain ranges it spans. These twin chains are joined by the Tancalaporta pass, which divides the Pre-Pyrenees and the Pyrenees. It’s a glorious patchwork of valleys and summits, with peaks rising to 2,500m high.

 

Scattered in between lie several medieval villages filled with traditional Pyrenean architecture, including the 11th-century Benedictine monastery of Sant Llorenç del Munt, near Bagà. Elsewhere, chamois and red deer clamber the slopes and bearded vultures – one of the rarest birds of prey in Europe – can be spotted overhead.

Rocky mountain with grass and tree scattered. in the background the mountains have white stone

North-west of Girona lies the otherworldly landscape of the Zona Volcànica de la Garrotxa, set within an ancient volcanic landscape. Some 40 volcanic cones rise majestically across the park, each carpeted in oak forests and interspersed by over 20 basaltic lava flows. There are several sign-posted walking routes of varying length throughout, and it’s even possible to hike to the top of the Croscat Volcano (786m).

 

Surrounding the park are three fascinating towns to visit: Olot, which has four volcanoes of its own; medieval Besalú and its fairy-tale bridge; and Banyoles with its gorgeous swimming and boating lake. This region even has its own volcanic cuisine, which includes interesting ingredients such as cornmeal porridge, purple potatoes, white corn, truffles, the local piumoc dried sausage, sheep’s milk cheeses and buckwheat.

Bridge over a river leading to a small town. There is a tower entrance

Parc Natural dels Ports

In the south-western corner of Catalonia, bordering the regions of Aragón and Valencia, the Parc Natural dels Ports extends across 35,000 hectares. Across its wild landscape rises craggy massifs that tower between wild pine forests and serene oak groves. Vultures, Iberian lynx and golden eagles are just some of the fauna that call this park home.

 

It also has one of Spain’s most important populations of Iberian ibex, which are more typically known locally as ‘Spanish wild goats’. Their long, curled horns make them a majestic sight for wildlife watchers. Because of its landscape of limestone caves, ravines and cliffs, the park is also notable for its array of adventure sports, ranging from rock climbing to caving and canyoning.

Mountain goat standing on the edge of the rocky cliff, that is half covered by trees

Parc Natural de la Serra de Montsant

In the rocky terrain north-west of Tarragona lies the Parc Natural de la Serra de Montsant, dominated by the Montsant mountain range and located in the area of Priorat. It’s characterised by bizarre rock formations that stack themselves like pancakes and reach high above the clouds. These are interspersed by towering rock walls, dramatic ravines and gorges. One of the most striking sights here is the Fraguerau Gorge, where the Montsant River has cut a deep gash through the rock.

 

Throughout history, humanity has found Montsant to be a spiritual place. A monastery and dozens of hermitages have been built here, with the most famous of these being the 12th-century hermitage of Sant Bartomeu and the Carthusian Monastery of Escaladei – the first monastery of the Sant Bruno order in Spain. Visitors can still walk around the latter’s tranquil cloisters and see where the monks used to live. Besides its spiritual links, Montsant is known for both its wildlife and its wines. Keep a look out for the endangered Hermann’s tortoise, a startling black-and-yellow Mediterranean tortoise.

 

Meanwhile, a tour of the local bodegas or vineyards – home of the DO wines Montsant and Priorat – could easily be paired with a natural park visit. Or just grab a glass at the end of your hike and relax.

Rocky peaks covered by trees and bushes

Need to know

When to go

Late spring, summer and autumn are the best times to visit Catalonia, with winter and early spring seeing plenty of snow. Although summer is high season in Barcelona and along the coast, the natural parks are still quiet and make for the perfect places to escape the intense heat in the cities.

Getting there

From the UK, you can fly direct to Barcelona El Prat or Girona airports. Figueres, Girona and Barcelona are also connected by high-speed train from Paris, in under 7 hours. You can also take a train up to Girona from Barcelona (which takes roughly 40 minutes) and then hire a car from there if you’re heading to the Pyrenees.

Languages

Catalan is the co-official language in Catalonia, along with Spanish. Most locals also speak Spanish, but Catalan may be more prevalent in Pyrenean villages and rural communities.

Event

If your trip coincides with the summer solstice and surrounding dates (mid- to end of June), check out the region’s Fallas del Pirineo festivities, which are inscribed on UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

 

In Catalonia, this festival is celebrated particularly around the regions of Alta Ribagorza, Berguedá, Pallars Jussà, Pallars Sobirá and Val d’Aran

Glossary

The quality of being able to continue over a period of time, or the avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance (Camrbdige Dictionary).

This refers to ‘the variability of living organisms, between and within species, and the changeability of the ecosystems to which they belong’ (The Convention on Biological Diversity).
According to the Responsible Tourism Partnership, ‘Responsible Tourism requires that operators, hoteliers, governments, local people and tourists take responsibility, and take action to make tourism more sustainable. Behaviour can be more or less responsible, and what is responsible in a particular place depends on environment and culture’. The concept was defined in Cape Town in 2002 alongside the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
The process of protecting an environment and returning it to its natural state; for example, bringing back wild animals that used to live there (Cambridge Dictionary).
A movement reducing the distance between producers and sales and consumer establishments to a radius of under 100 kilometres, with the aim of minimising the effects that large-scale industry have on the planet, including soil erosion, water pollution, and habitat loss for wild species.
Being ‘green’ is used to describe actions or initiatives that are conducted in a sustainable way, in an attempt to reduce impact on planetary resource limits. However, the word can be used to describe actions or initiatives that do not actively do this, but rather convey an ethos of being planet-friendly; eg being outside, walking or riding a bike. This can be considered ‘greenwashing’ (when an individual or company paints an action as credibly sustainable when, in fact, it is an action that beenfits them, or that should be considered the bare minimum).