NEXT STATION: PALLARS JUSSÀ
Welcome to station of la Pobla de Segur, where we will know some of the cultural, natural and scenic attractions that our territory offers, as well as proposals of recreational and sports activities to enjoy all year.
Let your senses experience all the richness of this territory: touch the forests, feel the fragrance of its flowers, live the adventure of Jussà and observe its uniqueness.
Pallars Jussà can be, thanks to all the possibilities it offers, what everyone who visits it wants to find.
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
Pallars Jussà is a comarca with a wide variety of relief forms and a wide altitudinal range, from 358 meters high in the Terradets gorge to 2983 meters of the highest peaks in the Vall Fosca (Dark Valley). This generates a wide range of microclimates and a wide diversity of landscapes and plant communities.
Vegetation is distributed in the territory, forming a large mosaic based on multiple ecological factors that condition the presence and growth of plants. At the bottom of the basins of Tremp, Dellà and Dalt there are agricultural landscapes of grain, fodder, olive and almond trees. At the lower heights we can find a wide variety of oaks. Along the course of the rivers and ravines there are river forests with a wide variety of deciduous trees. As we go higher we can find pine forests with red pines, and finally, the black pine, which reach as high as 2200 meters.
The Pallars Jussà is a land of contrast, with a wide range of landscapes ranging from agricultural plains to abundant forests, steep and colorful cliffs, to high mountain peaks. Thanks to all this there is a diverse flora and fauna, where each animal and vegetable species has a prominent role.
In the north of the region and at its highest elevations, there is an environment where black pine, alpine meadows, and to a lesser extent beeches, poplars, maples, thorns and oak, grows abundantly. It is also famous for a wide variety of species and families of fauna such as the bearded vulture, golden eagles, otters, ermine, chamois, Pyrenean newt, among many other animals.
In the mountains of Montsec and the cliffs there is an abrupt land where small-leaved oaks and pastures make up this amazing landscape. Birds of prey such as the vulture, bearded vulture, golden eagle and bonelli can be seen. Migratory bird species such as cranes can be found in the vicinity of the rivers. As far as mammals are concerned, you can find foxes, badgers, wild boar, deer, roe deer or fallow deer.
In short, the Pallars brings together a whole series of incentives for nature lovers to enjoy the natural spectacle, which testify to the good state of our natural environment.
PINE
Scientific name: Pinus nigra
Sub-Mediterranean pine species, found only around the Mediterranean basin.
Curiosities and utilities:
Pinus nigra is the pine most susceptible to strong processing attacks, a caterpillar that eats its leaves and can completely defoliate them. Although the trees are not killed, continued attacks greatly weaken the pines.
COMMON ALDER
Scientific name: Glutinosa Alnus
The common alder lives on the banks of the rivers. Its scientific name (glutinosa) derives from the sticky touch of its leaves and branches.
Curiosities and utilities:
The roots exhibit symbiont bacteria that fix atmospheric nitrogen, allowing these trees to live in permanently entoled environments where few species can survive.
EVERGREEN OAK
Scientific name: Quercus ilex
The evergreen oak has very harsh ecological conditions. This allows it to live in extreme places.
Curiosities and utilities:
Specie traditionally used for energy use (firewood and charcoal) and for feeding cattle with their fruits (acorns). Until the mid-20th century, many oak trees in the region were used to make coal.
ASPEN
Scientific name: Populus tremble
He lives in shady areas, ravines and fountains. It grows in forests of other species.
Curiosities and utilities:
The petioles of their leafs with soft wind tremble and make a sound similar to a water course, this is why it has its name. During the autumn it acquires a spectacular coloration with tones ranging from yellow to red.
BLACK PINE
Scientific name: Pinus uncinata
It occupies the subalpine stage, at the highest peaks of the mountains. Very resistant to snow and wind, it is the most representative tree on the high mountains of the region.
Curiosities and utilities:
Its scientific name is derived from the Latin adjective uncinatus which alludes to the curved nail shape of the scales of its pines.
SCOTS PINE
Scientific name: Pinus sylvestris
It is the most representative pine on the middle mountain, and the most distributed throughout the world.
Curiosities and utilities:
In the 19th century and until the mid-20th century in some areas of the Pyrenees the scots pine was “bled” to extract the resin, which was distilled to obtain turpentine and glue for medicinal uses.
THYME
Scientific name: Thymus vulgaris
It blooms during spring and summer. It lives in calcareous, dry and sunny soils.
Curiosities and utilities:
Aromatic plant par excellence for culinary and medicinal uses. It has antibiotic, digestive, healing properties, etc.
MINT
Scientific name: Mentha spicata
Herbaceous plant that grows in moist soils, with many wild and hybrid garden species.
Curiosities and utilities:
It is used against stomachal problems. The essential oil of mint is called menthol. It is used as a flavouring agent and as a medicinal oil.
LAVENDER
Scientific name: Lavandula angustifolia
It flowers in early summer. It lives in buds along with other shrubby species.
Curiosities and utilities:
The scent of lavender is relaxing. Its uses are diverse, being used in medicinal remedies, cosmetics or mosquito repellent.
RUE
Scientific name: Ruta chalepensis
It blooms during spring and summer. It lives in rocky and dry soils. It has a peculiar smell that leaves no one indifferent.
Curiosities and utilities:
Formerly it had been used as an abortive plant and to help with childbirth. It is a plant with a strong toxicity, which is why it is not used today.
ELDER
Scientific name: Sambucus nigra
We find it in cool places and in deciduous forests with moist soils. Blooms from May to July.
Curiosities and utilities:
Medicinal use for respiratory tract and venous stimulant. Flowers can be eaten battered. The fruit is edible when it is mature, but otherwise it can have certain toxic effects. It was traditionally considered a magical protector of cattle, given its ability to grow near pens, with nitrogen-rich soils.
COTTON LAVENDER
Scientific name: Santolina chamaecyparissus
With the name of Cotton Lavender are known many species that bloom at the end of June.
Curiosities and utilities:
It is used against intestinal parasites, as a digestive and to put it in closets against moths.
GEOLOGY
The Pallars Jussà occupies a good part of the territory of the Geopark and impregnates it with a great biodiversity. The UNESCO World Geoparks are territories that explore, develop and celebrate the links between their geological heritage of international relevance and the rest of natural and cultural patrimonies.
Roughly, from Senterada (Vall del Flamisell) and Plana de Mont-ros (Vall del Noguera Pallaresa) to the north, we find the oldest rocks, from the Paleozoic era and the prize to this antiquity is for the slates, metamorphic rocks that we can find in Sallente, Capdella or Port de Rus. On the other hand, in the south of these villages, in general we find younger rocks, mostly sedimentary rocks of the Mesozoic.
This geological record engraved in the rocks are the pages of a 550 million years history book. An exceptional book that must be read to understand how geology has shaped life, relays, landscapes, climate and even the human site and its culture and customs in this territory.
The core of the region is formed by a mass of granitic rocks about 300 million years old. Because of the strength of the terrestrial tectonic plates and the erosion, these masses of rocks surfaced to the surface. The granitic rocks are surrounded by a different type of rock, the rocks of sedimentary origin that later suffered another geological process giving rise to another category of rocks, called metamorphic rocks.
THE MAIN ROCKS THAT WE CAN FIND IN PALLARS JUSSÀ
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
Stoneware, red stoneware, conglomerate, limestone and chalk.
They are formed from the accumulation of materials or particles, by chemical precipitation or by the growth of organisms, in subarial or underwater marine or lake conditions: sediments. These materials layer to form a rock.
STONEWARE
Stoneware is detritic sedimentary rock, composed of grains of sand more or less rounded and of diameters between 2 mm and 0.06 mm. In this case we say Turbidite, where the grains have been sedimented by a stream of turbidity in underwater marine conditions.
Age: Upper Cretaceous (80 mi.).
Uses: Ornamental and construction stone.
Places where you can find it : La Terreta, Toralla, La Pobla de Segur
CONGLOMERATE
The Conglomerate belongs to the group of sedimentary rocks. It is distinguished by its fat grain, basically formed by rounded fragments, more than 2 mm in diameter, called boulders and blocks. These are joined by a matrix of sands and clays and all, joined by a cement of calcium carbonate/silica composition or iron oxides.
Uses: Ornamental and construction stone.
Places: Serradell, La Pobleta de Bellveí, Collegats-Queralt, Pessonada
LIMESTONE
Limestone is a sedimentary rock containing more than 50% calcium carbonate, consisting essentially of calcite and aragonite.
Age: Lower Cretaceous (135 mi.).
Uses: Ornamental and construction stone.
Places: Viu de Llevata, Coll de Perves, Peracalç, Collegats, Serra de Boumort
CHALK
Chalk is a monomineral evaporative sedimentary rock (90%) formed by chalk crystals, hydrated calcium sulfate SO4Ca • 2H2O.
Age: Upper Triassic, Keuper (200 mi.).
Location: Surroundings of Adons, Senterada, Gerri de la Sal.
Uses: Stone for wall and ceiling coverings, cement additive, thermal insulation, mold making, etc.
IGNEOUS ROCKS
Granite
They have their origin in large masses of molten rocks, called magmas, that are located inside the earth and that have a tendency to ascend towards more superficial areas of the crust, having a lower density than the rocks where they are located.
Granite is a plutonic igneous rock, crystal-clear with granular texture, consisting essentially of quartz (white-translucent), feldspar (whitish-opaque) and mica (dark-blackish). The granites are formed when the magma of the mantle introduces the rocks of the subsoil and there it cools slowly and solidifies. )
Age: Carboniferous-Permian (does 315-275 Mi.).
Uses: Ornamental and construction stone.
Places where you can find it: North of Vall Fosca, Aigüestortes National Park and Estanty de Sant Maurici.
METAMORPHIC ROCKS
Blackboard
They come from the modification, in solid state, of igneous or sedimentary rocks due to the conditions of temperature and pressure or tectonic efforts to which they were subjected. Metamorphic processes cause changes in mineralogy and texture in rocks and, in some cases, also in chemical composition.
Slate belongs to the group of metamorphic rocks. It is of fine grain, with structure in slabs. The original rock was a shale, which was affected by a low-grade metamorphism (process by which one rock is transformed into another, reflecting changes in composition and texture).
Age: Cambrian-Ordovician. Places: Capdella, Filià.
Uses: Roof coverings in areas of snow and other types of constructions. Old writing element. Kitchen.
VALL FOSCA
The Vall Fosca is located in the north of the county of Pallars Jussà, and has one of the most important natural water reserves in Catalonia, there is also one of the entry points to the National Park of Aigüestortes and Estany de Sant Maurici.
Between 800 and almost 3,000 meters high, the Vall Fosca has a wide range of natural attractions. The Flamisell is the main river that acts as the backbone of the valley and water is one of the main natural resources of this energy-generating valley.
In the Vall Fosca you can see three kind of landscapes, from the typical orography of the high mountain peaks of almost 3,000 meters high, with lakes of glacial origin, passing through the forest landscape of coniferous forests in the middle of the valley, until you reach the plateaus at the bottom of the valley, where the dry stone walls surround the meadows, the villages and the roads.
AIGÜESTORTES AND ESTANY DE SANT MAURICI NATIONAL PARK
The head of the Vall Fosca is part of the Aigüestortes and Estany de Sant Maurici National Park, specifically its peripheral protection area. Access in the Park can be done with the Vall Fosca Cable Car, the only one existing on the southern side of the Pyrenees. Located in four counties, in the heart of the Pyrenees, the National Park protects a high mountain landscape where water is the protagonist, since it has almost 200 lakes and a multitude of streams. In the Vall Fosca in particular, there are more than 30 lakes of glacial origin, located above the 2200 meters of altitude. Its environment is the habitat of emblematic animals such as the chamois or the white partridge.
The Aigüestortes and Estany de Sant Maurici National Park is the only national park in Catalonia. It is located mostly above 1,500 meters of altitude. Therefore, its predominant landscape is that of high mountain, with a great wealth of fauna and vegetation, and an abrupt change, with glacial circuses, lakes and gorges that are the legacy of the erosive action of the Quaternary glaciers. The water, with almost 200 lakes and countless streams, is the protagonist of the National Park of Aigüestortes and Estany de Sant Maurici.
In addition to its natural charm, in this area you can make several itineraries on foot. These routes connect the lakes which are over 2000 m. The long-distance road GR-11-20, which allows you to reach Espot and Boí, passing through the Vall Fosca, the Carrilet Greenway, ascents to peaks such as the Peguera (2,983 m) or the Montsent de Pallars (2,883), among others, or the return through the shelters of the National Park, Carros de Foc, which in the Vall Fosca begins in the refuge of Colomina.
DARK SKY – STARLIGHT
Dark sky
The absence of light pollution in the Pallars Jussà makes it one of the only places in Catalonia where you can see the Milky Way and its constellations in their majesty throughout the different seasons of the year.
Turn the button and watch the constellations change at each station in the starry sky.
Throughout the history of humanity, man has had a direct connection with heaven. Ancient cultures created figures with stars. These figures were very important to know, through the position of the stars, the arrival of the different seasons of the year. Aspect of vital importance and need to sow and harvest crops.
The definition of Starlight, in Catalan celístia, alludes to the light of the stars. The optimal weather conditions of the Pyrenees, makes this a unique place to observe the night sky and stars.
For this reason, some municipalities of the Pallars Jussà have received the certification of Starlight Reserve, endorsed by UNESCO. Currently in the region, there are 7 municipalities Starlight, which are: Tremp, Castell de Mur, Isona i Conca Dellà, Gavet de la Conca, Llimiana, Sant Esteve de la Sarga and more recently, Torre de Capdella.
THE HEAD OF THE VALL FOSCA
An anamorphic representation of the head of the Vall Fosca built through structures.
Playing with perspective generates a visual trick where users have to find the correct position to see the image. Anamorphic figures can only be seen from one point.
OPERATION OF A HYDROELECTRIC PLANT
The origins of the Pallars Jussà
Water is one of the main protagonists of Pallars Jussà. Its rivers, lakes and reservoirs have played a decisive role in the history of the Catalan industrial revolution.
This large amount of hydraulic reserve allowed at the beginning of the twentieth century important companies such as Electric Power of Catalonia or the Barcelona Traction Light and Power, better known as the Canadian, to built important hydroelectric plants to generate electricity on a large scale, revolutionizing society, industry and the economy of the country at the time.
Hydropower plants are responsible for generating energy from natural water resources. This energy is one of the most sustainable, clean and safe that there is today.
WATER ENERGY
The water reserve of the lakes at the head of La Vall Fosca is very important, exceeding 50 million m³. This large reserve allowed the construction of the first hydroelectric plant in Catalonia at the end of the 19th century to generate electricity on a large scale, revolutionizing society, industry and the economy of the country at the time.
The water
The water is collected in a reservoir or lake allowing it to acquire a potential energy.
At the moment when it is necessary to generate electrical energy the floodgates that contain these waters open, allowing the water to fall through the forced pipe, passing from potential energy to kinetic energy. It is losing height and gaining speed.
The turbine
The water hits the turbine blades producing a movement producing a mechanical energy that causes the axis of the electric generator to move that transforms mechanical energy into electrical energy.
The transformer
The transformer boosts power so it can travel through the power towers to our homes.
COLLEGATS AND BOUMORT
Boumort – Collegats is an extensive area of natural interest of almost 20,000 hectares that protects some of the most spectacular and best preserved places in the Catalan Pre-Pyrenees. Impressive rock walls and geological formations worthy of a Geopark are the environment of extensive forests and open areas, which make up the habitat of numerous endangered animal species. In Boumort – Collegats you can discover the wild Pre-Pyrenees.
The Gorge of Collegats
The landscape of Collegats is marked by a linear element that is the river Noguera Pallaresa and the erosion that has occurred in the conglomerates, causing the formation of the gorge. But in addition to this linear dimension, there is another large area that make up the mountains and spaces of its environment, on both sides of the river: the Rocs de Queralt, Queralt, Roca Santa, Llania, Gramuntill, Baiarri, the Serra de Peracalç, Cuberes and Solduga. Altogether, Collegats is an example of the combination of a geological landscape of great beauty with a great scientific interest, didactic and informative for the knowledge of the geology of the Pyrenees.
The Boumort Reserve
The Boumort National Reserve was created in 1991 with an area of 13,097 ha. This area, where three regions meet (Pallars Sobirà, Pallars Jussà and Alt Urgell) is located between the valleys of Noguera Pallaresa and Segre. The Reserve protects and manages a good sample of the typical wildlife of the Pre-Pyrenees, and has been the scenario of the reintroduction of extinct species in Catalonia such as the deer and black vulture.
LOOKOUT
This represents a lookout or wildlife observatory.
The lookouts are structures designed to observe the fauna without seeing us, thanks to openings where there are curtains or spyglass. This allows you to enjoy the wild animals at a short distance, observe their behavior and photograph them. Many lookouts have light and services, in case you have to spend a lot of time.
In the Pallars Jussà you have a few to choose from, which allow you to see vultures, eagles, deer or foxes very close.
CLIFFS
Vultures live in colonies and nest on these sunny cliffs. They are carrion birds, since they feed on the corpses of other animal species, helping to clean the natural environment. In this part of the region, it is the only one in Europe where the four great species of vultures existing on the continent nest.
THE VULTURES
Vultures are carrion birds, as they feed on the carcasses of other animal species, helping to clean the natural environment. In this part of the region, it is the only place in Europe where you can see the four large species of vultures.
Upon arriving at this space the visitor will find a reproduction of a bird watchman. In the part of the window there is installed a monitor where you can enjoy audiovisual with aerial views of the area.
Following the lookout and delimiting the space we find two circular totem where the information of the four vultures characteristic of the area is contained.
As we unfold the different layers of each totem we will discover all the information of these birds.
BLACK VULTURE
Scientific name: Aegypius monachus
Food: It feeds on large pieces of meat, skin and tendons spread around the dead animal.
Seasonality: Sedentary
Habitat: Makes the nest in trees. It forms colonies with the nests relatively separate from each other.
Population: Extinct in Catalonia more than a century ago, it has been reintroduced to the Boumort Reserve, where there are already more than fifty individuals and almost twenty couples.
VULTURE
Scientific name: Gyps fulvus
Food: It feeds on large masses of meat and viscera, which can be consumed quickly because it is the first thing to arrive in a flock. The absence of feathers on the head allows him to put it inside the corpses to extract the food.
Seasonality: Sedentary
Habitat: Makes the nest in rock walls.
Population: It was threatened in the 60s-70s of the 20th century, when the use of poisons coincided with the decline of livestock farming due to rural abandonment and the virtual extinction of wild herbivores. Today, their presence is abundant.
BEARDED VULTURE
Scientific name: Gypaetus barbatus
Diet: The bearded vulture feeds on the bones that remain from the corpses. Of the more than 10,000 species of birds in the world, it is the only one that eats them. When he finds them, he swallows them whole or, if they are too large, throws them from a certain height to break them, until he can swallow them.
Seasonality: Sedentary
Habitat: Makes the nest in rock walls, occupied by territorial pairs.
Population: Endangered species that has in the Pyrenees the main European population. Feeding points helped to save it. Today, Collegats and Boumort are the places with the highest density of bearded vultures in Catalonia.
EGYPTIAN VULTURE
Scientific name: Neophron percnopterus
Food: Small pieces of meat spread around the dead animal or remains of small vertebrates (reptiles, fish). He also eats invertebrates.
Seasonality: Migrant, present in the Pre-Pyrenees, where it breeds from March to September. Winters in Africa.
Habitat: Makes the nest in rock walls, occupied by territorial pairs.
Population: Globally threatened species. In the Pallars Jussà there is the largest population of Catalonia, with several couples in the area of Collegats and Boumort.
BOUMORT RESERVE
Boumort is the generic name with which is known a set of mountains located around the Boumort mountain range, which by being the highest (2,077 m) is the one that gives name to the set. To its surroundings converge mountains and valleys that make up a very complex relay, in which highlights emblematic places such as the mountain of Sant Corneli, the Roc de Pessonada or the valley of the Coma d’ Orient.
Its rugged landscape connects with the Collegats Gorge. There is not a singular element that predominates in the area, but there is a mosaic of very interwoven landscape elements: ravines and Stone walls of conglomerate or calcareous, pine forests, red pine and black pine, holm oaks, oaks and pastures. This diversity of habitats makes Boumort an ideal place for the conservation and recovery of the Pre-Pyrenee wildlife.
The Boumort National Game Reserve reaches approximately 13,000 hectares. This reserve space, created in 1991, provides a great opportunity to observe and enjoy the plant and wildlife biodiversity that this area has.
THE DEER
Scientific name: Cervus Elaphus
The most characteristic species of the Boumort Reserve is the deer. They were reintroduced after becoming extinct throughout Catalonia, and today has one of the most important populations in the Pyrenees, with more than half a thousand specimens.
This herbivorous mammal weighs between 80 and 140 kg, and has an excellent smell, hearing and sight. The genders are differentiated by the absence of horns in the females and the presence of these in the males, which renew them completely every year during the spring.
The coat varies depending on the time of year. During the winter its coat is gray while the rest of the year is more reddish. The young fawn have scattered light spots that help them to go unnoticed in the area.
Since ancient times, the deer has been hunted in the wild. This is why it gradually disappeared from most of our forests until it became totally extinct in Catalonia. Its presence in the Boumort Reserve is due to a reintroduction programme initiated in 1981.
It is an animal that during the day rests and usually moves towards dusk, night and dawn. The females and their offspring move with different groups of the males, and only reunite during the mating season.
Deer live in open forests or near fields, where their feeding based on acorns, shrub shoots, leaves and grass is assured. The old males are solitary and go to the most hidden parts of the forest.
THE BELLOW OF THE DEER
The zeal of the deer
Each autumn a unique phenomenon occurs, when females are being zealous and males compete with their bawling to attract them.
The mating season lasts about a month, from mid-September to mid-October. This is one of the most impressive natural spectacles in the area.
Curiosities
Adult males are solitary throughout the year, except during the mating season. On the other hand, females always form groups composed of adults and fawns (both female and male offspring).
GROUSE
Scientific name: Tetrao urogallus
Habitat: In the spring, males gather at certain points in the forest to attract females. In winter they stay most of the time to the tops of the pines, feeding on their leaves.
ROE DEER
Scientific name: Capreolus capreolus
Habitat: It lives in the forest, where it feeds on buds and leaves of woody plants. It is territorial and is favored by the existence of water points. In the spring it comes out to graze in open spaces.
WILDCAT
Scientific name: Felis silvestris
Habitat: Feline scarce and little known, lives in low density in forest environments of the mountains and some fluvial spaces of the region. It feeds mainly on small mammals.
CHAMOIS
Scientific name: Rupicapra pyrenaica
Habitat: It lives in rocky places of medium and high mountain, usually near water points and mountain areas.
FOX
Scientific name: Vulpes vulpes
Habitat: It is a species that is present in all types of environments. Its activity is mainly twilight and nocturnal. Although it belongs to the group of carnivores, it has a very broad diet that also includes plant matter.
WILD PIG
Scientific name: Sus scrofa
Habitat: It is a species that is present in all types of environments due to the high capacity of adaptation and its omnivorous diet.
OTTER
Scientific name: Lutra lutra
Habitat: We can find specimens of this species in the river Noguera Pallaresa. It is closely related to river systems where there is riparian forest, tranquility and a wealth of fish.
ROUTES OF PALLARS JUSSÀ
The Pallars Jussà, with its diverse and abundant natural and cultural heritage, offers a wide range of activities for all audiences.
The spectacular ravines, forests, rivers and summits, are the ideal environment to enjoy nature, sport and adventure, with a great unique offer adapted to all types of visitors. Its orography makes it the perfect place for any type of mountain activity. Going through hiking, cycling, climbing or different water activities, enjoy the many options in one of the most fascinating and unknown environments of Catalonia.
360 EXPERIENCE
In one of the pioneering multimedia techniques of the audiovisual market, the place has a virtual reality (VR) glasses who are able to make the user feel that they are present in some of the experiences that can be enjoyed in the Pallars Jussà at specific times of the year, making them available to anyone at any time.
Moments such as those of the slopes of the river, the process of artisanal manufacture of the torches or some jump in ravine will pass before the eyes of the visitor immersively and in 360 degrees.