The Albera Natural Site
The Albera Mountain Range is the name given to the eastern section of the Pyrenees, from Le Perthus mountain pass down to the sea. It separates the Empordà plain from the Roussillon plain and, since 1659, by virtue ofthe Treaty of the Pyrenees, its crestline makes up the border between France and Spain. It consists of two very different sectors: the western side, Requesens-Baussitges, and the eastern side, Sant Quirze de Colera-Balmeta. The former has damper, higher areas and is almost 100% covered by forests with an extraordinary varied plant life, with cork oak, holm oak, chestnut, oak and beech forests and pastures at the top. The Requesens area covers the headwaters of the River Anyet, with splendid riverbank plant life, with willows, ashes and alders. The Baussitges area includes the top valley of the River Orlina, where the easternmost beech forests on the Peninsula can be found. The Sant Quirze de Colera sector is organised around the important monastery of the same name, a gem of Catalan Romanesque art, and it is an area with totally Mediterranean characteristics.
REMARKABLE PLACES
La Jonquera/Sorède municipal area
Garriguella municipal area
Rabós municipal area
La Jonquera municipal area
The plant life is dominated by sporadic cork oak forests, scrubland and thickets. The last natural populations of Hermann’s tortoise found on the Iberian Peninsula can be found here. The populated areas are found at the foot of the Albera Mountain Range, in an area known as Els Aspres. The landscape is made up of a mosaic of small cork oak forests, scrubland, rocky outcrops and, above all, dry land crops, vines and olive trees, whose produce, wine and olive oil, have traditionally been the way of life of the attractive villages in the area.
INTERESTING INFORMATION
4.175 hectares (including 1,275 hectares of nature reserves)
All year round, but the best periods are spring and autumn; the Tortoise Breeding Centreis only open in spring and summer
Espolla, La Jonquera and Rabós
Rectoria Vella
Carrer d’Amadeu Sudrià, 3 · 17753 Espolla
Can Laporta
Carrer Major, 2 · 17700 La Jonquera
Alt Empordà
972 54 50 79
Beech
Holly
Vern
Black maple
Cork oak
Hermann’s tortoise
Golden eagle
Alcathoe bat
Lesser kestrel
Beech beetle
Bee-eater
MAIN TOURIST ACTIVITIES
1. Hiking, GR-11 footpath, several itineraries promoted by the natural site and other entities
2. More than fifty megalithic monuments
3. Several Romanesque hermitages
4. Visits to wineries and oil mills