LANDSCAPES OF CATALONIA. Tourism in Autumn

Catalonia is an autonomous community in Spain with a millennial history and a language of its own –Catalan–, which is the official language together with Spanish. With 7.5 million inhabitants, it is a densely populated, highly developed area that leads the Spanish economy and is a benchmark European region as well.

Catalonia is an industrially active and entrepreneurial land that promotes the work ethic as a value inherent to productive capacity. These characteristics, together with quality infrastructures and services, make Catalonia an ideal destination for the business world.

Whether on the shores of the sea or high in the mountains; whether on foot, by bicycle or by balloon, it’s always a joy to discover the variety of landscapes in Catalonia. With areas of singular beauty like the Garrotxa volcanoes and the Ebro Delta, and its 2,000-metre peaks looming over luxurious coves and beaches of fine sand, join us on this journey across the geography of Catalonia, and you’ll discover fantastic activities where you can escape into nature.

Besides the natural landscape, we also have to talk about the urban. In this category Barcelona is the star. The Catalan capital is modern and cosmopolitan. The vibrant city that makes the visitor his, since it can travel easily. Discover modernist architecture, culture and gastronomy are the preferences of the tourist and visitor of the city. In Barcelona, you want to know its streets and tourist icons because most of the year the sun shines and the temperatures are mild.

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SUGGESTIONS AND PROPOSALS 

The Vic longaniza sausage is one of Catalonia’s most characteristic sausages and, above all, one of the most well-known throughout the world as the result of the International Paris Exhibition in 1857.

Nowadays it is one of the most outstanding hallmarks of the Vic Plain, where the tradition is revered dating back to the 14th century at least. It is with good reason that it obtained the Protected Geographical Indication, and can only be sold with a label which confirms this. Its production is highly controlled, to the point that in Vic there are only eight producers.

The decision to award it a specific geographical indication was primarily in response to the Plain’s unique climate. Surrounded by mountains, there are frequent mists and the temperatures are low, factors which affect the longaniza maturing process lending it an exclusive and unusual flavour.
Longaniza is only made using selected lean pork, salt and black pepper, mixed with bacon diced and cold macerated for several days.

Once the meat has been stuffed, it is left to dry for a minimum of 45 days. During this period, it produces a typical flora, with a whitish colour which gives it its characteristic aroma and flavour. The best variety is the one that has been stuffed in natural gut.

The weekly Vic market, one of the most popular in Catalonia, is an excellent place to buy it.

The National Museum of Art of Catalonia – MNAC, since this month of November. Carries out a new and attractive art proposal that offers a different vision of Pablo Picasso better known.

This exhibition include about 40 works and you find it in the exhibition rooms of Romanesque art. This is not about establishing a mechanical relation between the Romanesque works and Picasso’s or about finding influences, because one of the most remarkable aspects of Picasso’s style was his uniqueness and his capacity to turn any influence into something absolutely different without losing, but improving, the original ones.

This is about trying to grasp possible affinities between both of them.

Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park is one of the fifteen natural spaces included in the Spanish Network of National Parks, and the only National Park located in Catalonia. This is the most genuine representation of the high Pyrenees, and is unique for its majestic landscapes and rich flora and fauna.

The park contains fir trees and pine forests, some of them century-old, over 200 high mountain lakes and four peaks over 3000 metres high. It is home to 1500 vegetal species, 150 bird species, and 40 mammal species.

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Situated between Pallars Sobirà and Alt Urgell, the Alt Pirineu Natural Park is the largest in Catalonia. Pernui, in the district of Sort, is the gateway to this park, but its offices are in Llavorsí, where the centre in the Pajar d’en Tonet can be visited, which offers information and organises exhibitions and workshops.

The park is home to a large number of protected species, both animals as well as plant, and it has a variety of landscapes from Mediterranean forests to alpine flora. The village of Alins offers the possibility of admiring one of the many peculiar trees of the area due to its age or its size: the Pla de la Selva Fir, a tree catalogued as a Natural Monument.

Of note in the landscape is the Glacial Lake of Certascan, the largest in the Pyrenees, and the Cigalera de l’obaga de Baleran, one of the deepest gorges in Catalonia. However, perhaps the most famous is the Pica d’Estats, the highest peak in Catalonia, which has become an authentic symbol. It is said that Jacint Verdaguer was the first Catalan to climb it.

The park also includes several towns and villages belonging to up to fifteen districts, where an interesting cultural heritage can be enjoyed, both at an architectural as well as an archaeological level in addition to works of sacred art.