Walking guidebook Southern Catalunya - Spain

• Location
• Description
• Contents
• Introduction
• Sample Route
• Maps
• Updates
• Reviews

View Sample Route Map

Walk 1

Punta de l’Aigua

Difficulty  Route-finding •• Scrambling •• Exposure ••

Total ascent  900m

Time  4hrs 30mins (plus 25mins for the summit detour to Punta de l’Aigua)

Distance  13km

Start  Paüls

Map  El Port Nord, Editorial Piolet, 1:30,000

This circular route starts in the picturesque hill village of Pau¨ls. Clear, mostly waymarked, paths lead the walker through the rich and varied terrain of the northern els Ports, from olive and cherry terraces, up through a complex area of overhanging cliffs and steep valleys and onto the open grassy pasture of the Montsagre or sacred mountain. There are four cols to pass over, providing increasingly dramatic walking and views. From the third and highest col, a detour can be made to the summit of the Punta de l’Aigua with its 360° views. After a fourth col, a very good descent path leads back to Pau¨ls.

Leave the Plaça Major on the steep street by the right side of the town hall which, after a few minutes, reaches the cemetery. Take the road to the right of the cemetery, following blue markers. At the back of the cemetery the road forks again. This junction has a handsome metal signpost, a local feature which appears in the most unexpected places. Following signs for Montsagre d’Horta and Coll Gilaberta, take the right fork and stay with the main track, leaving the village by the side of olive and cherry plantations.4After 10mins the routes divide at a junction with a second metal signpost. Take the right track to follow GR171 and, after approximately 50m, turn left onto a path with a clear red and white marker visible.

Very soon another track is joined. Turn right and descend for 50m, leading to a junction marked with a cairn and a red and white marker. Here turn left onto a path which descends into the valley on zigzags, by the side of terraces planted with olives. Cross a small stream at the bottom of the valley on stepping stones, some 17mins from the start of the walk.

The route now ascends to join a track; follow it to the right for a few minutes to reach a wire fence. Leave the track by turning left onto a red and white waymarked path and climb beyond the village fields to enter an increasingly wild region of steep valleys and cliffs some 10mins later. Navigation here is not difficult but there are sharp changes of direction amongst boulders to look out for. About 35mins from the start the path enters a cirque with dramatically overhanging cliffs and passes a shallow cave where, after wet weather, a waterfall tumbles through a hole in the roof.

The path exits the cirque through large boulders and then climbs, steeply in places, zigzagging through pine and oak woodland. About an hour from the start the path enters a valley and descends slightly, to converge with and cross a stream bed. A few minutes further on upstream it crosses back, where the continuation is only marked by a cairn. The red and white markers re-commence after a few minutes. There are two further crossings, both clear, the second of which is reached around 25mins after entering the valley. The path now rises on the left side of the valley to emerge onto an unexpectedly lush and grassy area and continues alongside a stream for a few minutes, reaching the Font del Montsagre de Paüls, about 1½hrs from the start.4

Turning left onto PR-C9, yellow and white markers lead along a high grassy valley. The path rises gently through the pastoral landscape and then crosses some inclined limestone pavement to reach a wood. Just before entering the denser woodland there is a Reserva Nacional de Caça sign on a tree and, facing it, a cairn and yellow and white marker. Turn left here and then right after 20m to enter the wood on a clear path. Old eroded yellow and white markers appear after some 200m to confirm the direction. Leaving the trees, the path rises gently onto a high escarpment overlooking the Aragon plain, with the town of Horta de Sant Joan and the rounded rocky tops of the Muntanya Santa Barbara in the middle distance.

The path then drops to the Font del Montsagre d’Horta in a small valley headed by cliffs. Here another signpost points the way on to the Coll de la Gilaberta. After 10mins or so the path veers left, away from the line of the Montsagre d’Horta escarpment, following the yellow and white markers up and over a small rock band to reach the Coll d’Atans.

The 360° panorama from the Coll d’Atans reveals the drama of els Ports: below, the wooded Coll de la Gilaberta, ahead the steep rock of the Punta de l’Aigua.3The path now descends left over rocks to the Coll de la Gilaberta, reached some 50mins from the Font del Montsagre de Paüls. Here a metal signpost points directly onwards to Vacarissal. Two paths start in this direction and either can be used as they join later, although the left-hand path is favoured with cairns and yellow and white waymarks. About 10mins from the junction the now single path rises diagonally across steep rocky terrain towards a clear notch in the skyline, effectively an unofficial col. At the col there is a yellow and white marker and old directions in red paint, including one for the summit of the Punta de l’Aigua.

To visit the summit the route starts with a scramble up the ridge for about 50m, when it is possible to move to the right and gain a path leading up steeply into woodland. This rises, after 10mins, to a dip in the summit ridge. A path to the left leads to the highest point of the Punta de l’Aigua while to the right there is a remarkable airy ridge from which it is possible to look down 750m onto the village of Paüls.

After returning from the summit by the same route, the path, still waymarked in yellow and white, continues straight on, descending steeply over rocks and stony ground. After about 12mins from the col the path rises to cross a subsidiary ridge of the Punta and then descends more gently. After 30mins the path leads to Vacarissal. In this small, grassy valley there is a junction of paths and another signpost.

Starting in the direction signposted Paüls, the path rises through a small valley to reach a junction where the route turns left, abandoning the PR-C9 and its yellow and white markers. The new path continues to rise, guided by cairns, up to the Coll d’Avenc. Turn left along the top of the escarpment here, until the path starts to descend after about 50m. This excellent path descends gently to the left through pine woods and then by a series of zigzags down to a T-junction some 15mins after leaving Vacarissal. Turn left and continue for 30mins when the path converges with a track and in a little while passes a restored mas (farm). The track ends at a junction with a concrete and asphalt road after a futher 8mins; turn left along this road to reach the cemetery above Paüls after about 20mins to complete the circuit.

Paüls – a typical hill village

Paüls is a compact hill village some 16km north-west of Tortosa, surrounded by an amphitheatre of ridges and peaks. Its story is typical of the outlying communities of the Baix Ebre. The origins of Paüls go back at least to Roman times but its castle was built under the Moorish occupation of Al-Andalus in the 9th century. The church of Santa Maria is, in fact, built on the foundations of the original mosque. Paüls was an important strategic location for both the Moors and the Christians who conquered it in 1149. It was rich in natural resources, especially water, timber and agricultural land, and it remains so to this day. Sheep, cows and goats are grazed on its rich pastures and its fertile, well-watered land supports the cultivation of olives, cherries, almonds, vines, cereals, carobs and vegetables.

The village gained its charter in 1293 when the local baron, Joan Despuig, granted its inhabitants the right to live, farm, pasture, hunt and cut timber in perpetuity, in exchange for ‘300 sous of good money’ to be paid every year at Christmas time. Paüls alternately flourished and suffered over the following six centuries, as peaceful times alternated with the frequent conflicts that swept through Spain. During the Carlist Wars in the first half of the 19th century the population was decimated and the castle destroyed. Later, the Civil War caused a mass migration during the period of the final, dreadful Battle of the Ebre. But, between these events, the population recovered and created an almost entirely self-sufficient community of 1241 inhabitants, with its own flour mill and brick factory and 14 olive oil mills.

In 2010 Paüls has a relatively stable population of 632 inhabitants and its economy is based on agriculture and tourism. It is famous for the quality of its cherries and holds an annual cherry festival during the last weekend in May.