This volcanic region is one of Spain’s best kept secrets – Irish Times

we are in the forest. It’s cool and peaceful. Tall, slender trunks reach toward the sky, and the beech wood creates stripes that remind you of prison bars. This is a single species of wood, Fageda d’en Jorda, from the La Garrotxa volcanic region in northern Spain.

The Catalan poet Joan Maragall dedicated a poem to this forest, describing its sweet oblivion as making one feel like a prisoner. The tranquility and greenery are probably influenced by the bark bars.

We will be led by Mike Lockwood, a local nature and hiking guide. Although he is from England, he is someone who lived in this area a long time ago. He points out how this forest (550 meters above sea level, lowland) grew on top of lava flows from the nearby Crosscut Volcano, forming small hills and torsors. The specialness of this place is still preserved.

Arrive at the stunning horseshoe-shaped crosscut, the youngest and tallest volcano on the Iberian Peninsula. It erupted about 11,000 years ago. Until 1982, volcanic gravel was mined. Three years later, the Garrotxa volcanic zone was declared a natural park.

Mining created a huge gouge in the mound, forming what looked like a cross-section of the volcano, exposing the internal structure and color of the cross-cut volcano. As you step into the deep orange-black center of the crater, it’s comforting to think that it erupted thousands of years ago and is a monogenetic volcano, meaning it only erupts once.

All this (no longer active) volcanic activity is not far from the frenzied crowds of the Costa Brava and Barcelona in northeastern Catalonia. Western Spain is well known as a holiday destination, but La Garrotxa is a little-known gem, close to Girona Airport and about an hour’s drive inland from the beaches and Barcelona. The volcanic region offers unique local food, great hiking and biking, and characteristic villages.

Sandwiched between the Costa Brava and the Pyrenees Mountains, approximately 100 km north of Barcelona and 60 km from Girona Airport, lies Olot, the capital of La Garrotcia. Pronounced garrocha, it is a comarca (county) in the province of Girona, in Catalonia/Catalonia (Catalonia)/Catalonia (Spanish). Multilingual signs everywhere provide regular reminders of the region’s commitment to independence. It is a typical northern Iberian countryside with quiet villages, valleys, fertile farmland, majis (Catalan farmhouses) and dormant volcanoes.

These volcanoes dot the landscape of southern Garrotxa, and despite being monogenetic, their traces are everywhere, with lush countryside punctuated by their small uplifts; In quiet villages and medieval towns, unexpected realities exist.

We were based in Olot. This is a typical small Catalan city of 30,000 people, set on a plain surrounded by mountains, charming, lively and vibrant. Architecturally impressive, it features early 20th century Modernist or Art Nouveau buildings, many of which were designed by Alfred Paluzzi. We ended the day with a stroll through the historic town center with our guide Eva Calvet and his one-page leaflet from the tourist information center, filled with animal carvings, glazed floral prints, and more. We were given a tour of the casa, with its tiled, iron balustrades, and spent a happy few hours there. tower and frieze.

Also of interest in Olot are the classic Baroque Tula Church, the 16th-century monastery Claustre del Carme, and the modern indoor food market Plaza Mercat. There I bought sausages and some interesting meat and fish stacks.

One of Olot’s most distinctive aspects is that it grew around four volcanoes dotted around the city center. With our guide Beth Cobo, we turned off the streets near the cemetery, walked over the black volcanic material at the base of Monsacopa Volcano, and headed uphill through the forest that now covers the crater. . Walk around the rim of the volcano with two watchtowers and the church of San Francesca and a restaurant next to it. Monsacopa erupted about 130,000 years ago, and today children play on the grass inside the crater and it functions like a (very unusual) town park.

Across the road from the base of Monzacopa is Espai Crater, an underground museum housed within another volcano, the ancient Puig del Lozelle. Enter this impressive volcanic museum through the mound’s red cracks and it’s like being transported to the very earth itself.

La Garrotxa Volcanic Area is one of the most important volcanic areas in Europe, and the Garrotxa Volcanic Area Natural Park consists of 15,000 hectares, most of which is privately owned, but all of it is protected and has walking trails. . There are about 40 volcanic cones as well as more than 20 lava outflows. Although the volcano is no longer active, the region is still highly seismically active, with about 100 nearly imperceptible earthquakes occurring each year.

The region is home to several well-preserved medieval villages, the most impressive of which is the stone and wood Castelfollit de la Roca, perched on a volcanic cliff 50 meters high and 1 kilometer long. , the layers of its geological history are visible. Santa Pau is close to Valleda d’en Jorda, in the middle of a volcanic region and fertile farmland. Founded in the 13th century, it has well-preserved narrow streets lined with stone houses, large squares surrounded by arcaded buildings, Romanesque churches, and alleys.

Getting around this area is faster by car, but you can also get around by bus.

It’s also good to eat. At La Garrotxa, we often talk about “volcanic cuisine,” but this doesn’t mean it’s super spicy, but rather dishes that use high-quality local ingredients such as beans, buckwheat, snails, truffles, pork, and bread. We had a very good value lunch at Restaurant L’Osteret, a stone building with an arched roof in the village of La Val d’en Bass, between Olot and Vic.

Dinner at Lostal del Sol, a traditional roadside tavern on the outskirts of Olot, includes a large selection of local cheeses (and others in a large pot of fondue) and cured meats from the area. It was served with pas anbu tomaki (Catalan tomato bread). on a huge board. Another lunch was taken on the terrace of La Quinta Justa, a bright and airy restaurant in the center of Olot, offering better local produce and Catalan cuisine at a variety of price points.

In Olot, we stayed at Hotel Val d’en Ba, a few kilometers outside of town. Originally built in his 18th century and recently extended, it was spacious and comfortable, with an elegant and calm atmosphere.

While that hotel was well-located for exploring the area, the luxurious Mas Pineda in Oix is ​​more of a secluded hideaway. A 16th-century farmhouse converted into luxury accommodation, each bedroom is individually decorated with original stone and antique furniture. It is reached via a long and steep path up the mountain near the village of Oix. The property offers stunning views across the valley, with the snow-capped Pyrenees in the background. There, we blindfolded ourselves and took a forest bath, a sensual and calming experience.

La Garrotxa has an Atlantic climate and is rainier than expected, so spring or fall are the best times to visit to avoid the mid-summer heat. It’s one of the lesser-known areas of Catalonia, but it’s surprisingly easy to get to.

Useful links