Parks

L’Albera is the eastern stretch of the Pyrenees ridge running for about 25 kilometres from the French mountain peak Col du Perthus to the Mediterranean coast. In 1986, the Spanish part of Albera earned the designation of a nature reserve (Paraje Natural de Interés Nacional)—the protected status covers 4207 hectares of land.

L’Albera houses many notable towns and municipalities of L’Alt Empordà, including Cantallops, Espolla, Rabós, Llançà, La Jonquera, Colera, Portbou, and Sant Climent Sescebes.

A pilot and aircraft designer Nicolai Woevodsky, the World War I hero and the husband of Fräulein Maria Petrovo-Solovovo, moved to England after the 1917 Russian Revolution and served in the British Air Force for several years. In 1927, he purchased a large plot of land in a picturesque corner of the Catalan seaside, where he built a castle and beautiful gardens with his new love, an English lady Dorothy Webster.

A few years of hard work on the part of the Russian officer and a British aristocrat turned 17 hectares of wild nature into a botanical garden with a collection of over a thousand species of tropical and subtropical plants. In 1969, the Woevodsky couple gifted the gardens to the Spanish government, with one condition — that everything in them be preserved exactly as it was.

The bank La Caixa, presently in charge of the botanical gardens of Cap Roig, has been overachieving in this regard: the gardens now host sculptures by popular masters and artists, adding to the artistic atmosphere of Cap Roig, which would definitely have been appreciated by Nicolai and his wife.

In 2001, the botanical gardens gave a home to the international music festival Festival de Cap Roig, now hosted here annually in July-August. The festival holds concerts of many genres, boasting big names like Sting, Julio Iglesias, Charles Aznavour, Sinead O’Connor, Leonard Coen and many more.

Visitor information
The town closest to the botanical gardens is Calella de Palafrugell. Driving from Barcelona, follow AP-7 and C-31 and after passing Mont-ras, take exit 331 and follow Avinguda de Catalunya towards Jardins de Cap Roig.

Opening hours:
April to September: 10 am to 8 pm daily.
October to March: 10 am to 6 pm daily, in January and February weekends and holidays only.
Festival opening hours: open until 4 pm.
Closed: December 24, 25, 25, 31 and January 1, 5, 6.

Les Cadiretes is a mountain range in the region of El Baix Empordà of the Catalan province of Girona, also known as L’Ardenya. The range adjoins the coast between Tossa de Mar and Sant Feliu de Guíxols and stretches inland toward the border of the comarca El Gironès.

The highest point of Les Cadiretes is the peak of Puig de Cadiretes reaching 519 metres tall.

Les Gavarres is a mountain range located in El Gironès and El Baix Empordà regions of the Catalan province of Girona.

The nominal borders of Les Gavarres stretch from the town Sant Julià de Ramis in the northwest, through Girona, Cassà de la Selva and Calonge towards Torrent in the southeast, and then onwards towards Fonteta, Sant Sadurní de l’Heura, Madremanya and Celrà.

One of the highest points of the Les Gavarres mountains is the peak of Puig d’Arques which stands 530 metres tall.

Les Guilleries is a mountain range located in the comarcas of Osona and La Selva in Catalonia, nestled between the Plains of Vic (Plana de Vic) to the west, the Anglès municipality to the east, the northern shores of the water reservoirs Sau and Susqueda to the north, and the municipality of Sant Hilari Sacalm to the south. The latter is considered an unofficial capital of Les Guilleries as it’s a major town and even boasts a specialized local history museum.

The tallest point of Les Guilleries is Sant Miquel de Solterra whose peak towers 1204 metres above the sea. Hiking to the top will reward you with the ruins of the Solterra castle and the Saint Michael chapel.

The natural park Aiguamolls (Parc Natural dels Aiguamolls de l’Empordà) is situated in a hollow between the estuaries of Muga and Fluvià in the Costa Brava, occupying 4730 hectares, 825 of which are conservation areas.

The park could have been a town with a race track and a golf course, a twin brother of Empuriabrava, if the development of a “useless bog”, begun in 1975, hadn’t been crushed by the opposition from locals, environmentalists and the community at large. In 1983, the park received official protection from the state.

The main treasure of Aiguamolls is birds. Biologists count 338 bird species here, 82 out of which regularly make the conservation area their nesting grounds. Mid-April to early May is the ideal time for a visit, as both the number of birds and the species present go up during the active bird migration period. Some of the remarkable creatures spotted at Aiguamolls include pink flamingo, white stork, common kingfisher, purple heron, red-throated pipit, lesser grey shrike, and so many more.

Mammals and reptiles are also represented well in the Aiguamolls wetland, such as otters, red foxes, fallow deer, wild boars, aquatic turtles, marble newts, and the Mediterranean painted frogs.

The Aigumolls park has 14 observatories for getting up close to the animals without scaring them away.

Visitor information
Phone: +34 972 454 222
E-mail: pnaiguamolls@gencat.cat

Driving from Barcelona, select the village Sant Pere Pescador as the GPS destination, then follow the signs for Aiguamolls.

Upon entering the park, you will find yourself in the area called El Cortalet where you may access the information centre, picnic zones, parking and washrooms. El Cortalet is the starting point for all trails and hiking routes in Aiguamolls.

Information centre opening hours:
01/04-30/09: 09:30-2:00 pm and 4:30-7:00 pm
01/10-31/03: 09:30-2:00 pm and 3:30-6:00 pm
Closed on December 25-26, January 1 and 6.

You may get around the park on foot or by bicycle (select routes).