Excursión a la Garrotxa

BCEA students escaped the city last friday for a day out in the stunning scenery and fresh air of the Parque Nacional de la Zona Volcánica de La Garrotxa ( Garrotxa Volcanic National Park).

The morning started off with a horse drawn carriage ride through the Fageda d´en Jordà, a beautiful beech tree forest.
We were accompanied by our guide Ana, who explained that this region is the best example of volcanic landscape in the Iberian peninsula and one of the most interesting in Europe. From a geological point of view the area is very attractive as it contains about thirty strombolian volcanoes, some craters and more than twenty of the most unusual basalt lava flows. The most important volcanoes are: Montsacopa, Santa Margarida, Croscat, Martinya and Roca Negra, among others. We climbed up the volcano of Santa Margarida to investigate things a little closer.The rich and variated vegetation is nourished by the exceptionally humid climate, and makes this an impressive landscape. Before lunch we visited the lovely little village of Santa Pau. The whole village has been declared a historical and artistic monument. Standing over it, is a medieval castle which was abandoned long ago. The village center, distinctly feudal, consists of winding cobbled streets and a lovely porticoed main square.

We spent the rest of the afternoon strolling around Santa Pau enjoying the sunshine and having lunch. It was great explore outside of the city and see some Catalonian natural and cultural heritage.