The seaside town of L’Escala, situated in the Baix Empordà region, is an ideal base for hiking and walking holidays. The district is perfectly laid out for enjoying the various different types of landscape. Sign-posting and refurbishment work carried out by Baix Empordà District Council on certain paths means that this district is now served by a well-structured and sign-posted network of paths throughout the territory. The hiking network means that visitors can get to know the area from north to south and from east to west, from the most secluded bays to the most delightful woods, or from the main towns to the most out-of-the-way and peaceful little villages. The footpath network (370 km) means that anyone can plan his/her own routes by combining the various marked out and interconnecting paths.

The Baix Empordà is a district of great natural wealth providing habitats for a number of characteristic species of the Mediterranean zones that are under threat of extinction. The most vulnerable areas now come under the PEIN (Plan for Areas of Natural Interest) protection category. The total surface area protected to date amounts to 23,478 hectares of the district’s 70,050 total hectares. A further large protected area from Pals dunes and marshes to L´Escala is in the planning stage.

The currently protected areas are:

• The Montgrí mountain range
• The Medes Islands
• The Baix Empordà marshes
• The Gavarres hills
• The Begur mountains
• The Cadiretes mountain range 

Walking the Beautiful Muga River in Catalunya

Most people enjoy a stroll along a beautiful river but all too often the towpath can become so overgrown as to become impassable, or worse still, the way ahead can be blocked by housing developments. One of Catalunya’s longest and most impressive rivers has suffered restricted access. But the good news is that Spain’s Ministry for the Environment is in the final stages of completing a multi-use pathway, known as the Cami Muga, along the entire length of the river. At a cost of 1.25 million euros, it covers a distance of 42 kilometers and is for the sole use of ramblers, cyclists, joggers and horse-riders. Helpfully for mobility-restricted users, the Cami Muga is ramped for wheelchair access at several points.

The river rises just below the summit of Montnegre, standing at 1,180 meters, and its route takes in the pretty towns of Albanya, Sant Llorenc, Terrades, Boadella d’Emporda, Pont de Molins, Perelad, Castello d’Empuries and down to Empuriabrava on the Bay of Roses, passing the beautiful Aiguamolls de L’Emporda nature reserve at its southern end.

In fact the new Cami Muga will form part of a network of pathways linking the regions of Ripoll, Garrotxa and Alt Emporda, covering a distance of 2,500 kilometers. All across Spain the government is rolling out their Caminos Naturales project, transforming disused railway tracks, aqueducts and historic trails in the same way.

With so many demands on public spending, it is refreshing to learn that Catalunya’s recreational infrastructure is being prioritised in this way. It should be a pleasingly green amenity too, although local environmental groups are concerned that given the ease of access, the pathway’s generous width, the ban on motos and quad bikes might prove difficult to enforce. The ultimate aim is that the only energy expended on the Cami Muga will be of renewable bodily kind!

Montgrí Castle and the Dunes - The route starts off at Torroella de Montgrí and climbs up to Montgrí Castle. The GR 92 path leads to the Dunes, and from there you take a local footpath back to Torroella.

The Montgrí is a small calcareous mountain about 6 km inland that stands 309 metres above sea level. From the summit visitors can enjoy a pretty view of L’Estartit Bay and Pals, as well as the Medes Islands, a protected area of great ecological value.
The reference town of this itinerary is Torroella de Montgrí, which lies at the foot of the massif, between the mountain and the Ter River. It is a historic village, which in 1273 which was granted the status of royal village. King James II ordered the construction of Montgrí Castle, which would become a symbol of the area. Though never finished, the perimeter walls and four cylindrical towers were erected. It was restored in 1988, so visitors can now walk around the entire perimeter and enjoy a magnificent 360º panoramic view.
The Natural Interest Space (PEIN) of the Dunes is an area with sand dunes formed by the continuous sand deposits from the Gulf of Roses due to the Tramuntana wind. They eventually became a threat to the nearby towns, so in the 19th century they were fixed by planting grass and pines, giving rise to the little forest that can now be seen.

The Baix Empordà marshes forms the second largest wetland in Cataluña. It is made up of lakes and flood meadows at the confluence of the rivers Muga and Fluvià. It constitutes an exceptional habitat for fauna, particularly water birds. The Empordà Marshes Natural Park, which is run by the Autonomous Government of Cataluña’s Department of the Environment, is made up of a number of lakes, paddocks and floodplains where the Muga and Fluvià rivers meet, forming a privileged habitat in the midst of the Costa Brava. It has three integral natural preserves (RNIs) (from north to south, the Estanys RNI, the Les Llaunes RNI and the Illa de Caramany RNI, a tiny island in the middle of the Fluvià river), and the rest of the Park consists of a “wetland of international importance” according to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. The Aiguamolls de l’Empordà Natural Park is one of the natural preserves where the largest number of animal species can be observed in Cataluña. Over 300 bird species have been identified, including close to a hundred that make the area their nesting place. These include the heron, the kingfisher, the flamingo, the moorhen, the coot, or the mallard. But the queen of the park is the white stork, which, thanks to a recovery programme which began in 1987, now has a population of 30 couples.

Just south of the park, next to the town of L’Escala, the ruins of Empúries unveil the first settlements of the Greeks and Romans on the Iberian Peninsula.

Figueres is the capital of the Alt Empordà region. This large town boasts the Salvador Dalí Theatre-Museum, the most important point in the so-called Dalí Triangle, which is completed by Dalí’s house in Portlligat and the Púbol Castle, where his wife Gala lived.

Castelló d’Empúries, which was granted the status of Count’s Village, merits a visit, as it preserves its medieval ambiance and boasts a number of interesting buildings, including the 14th-century Santa Maria church, also known as “the cathedral of the Empordà”, and the Farinera Eco-Museum.

Walking network - GR and PR designated routes are internationally regulated and sign-posted walking paths. More information: Consell Comarcal del Baix Empordà
 

For information about fully supported walking and hiking holidays based in L´Escala email: hiking@activecat.net

a Kenna Diving SL company   (B17894080)   Head Office: Passatge Clavell 9, N0 8.  L’Escala 17130, Girona, Spain Phone/Fax: +34972772746   For holidays: active@activecat.net     For advertising: advert@activecat.net