Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park

The Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park is the only national park in Catalonia and one of the three high-mountain national parks on the Iberian Peninsula. It extends over 40,852 hectares in the Lleida Pyrenees, in the comarcas of Pallars Sobirà and Alta Ribagorça. The territory divides into two distinct sectors: the western area around the Sant Nicolau river and the aigüestortes (twisted waters in Catalan) of the Vall de Boí, and the eastern sector centred on the Sant Maurici lake and the glacial cirque of the Encantats.

Glacial heritage is the dominant geomorphological feature. The Pleistocene glaciers carved more than 200 lake basins distributed across the park, from high-altitude estanys above 2,500 metres to lakes in the floor of glacial valleys. Sant Maurici lake (1,910 m) and the lakes of Llong, Amitges, Travessani and Tort are the largest, but most of the 200-plus estanys are small water bodies scattered across moraines and glacial cirques. The Encantats, with their two summits at 2,748 m (Gran Encantat) and 2,738 m (Petit Encantat), rise above Sant Maurici lake on vertical granite walls that attract rock climbers from across Europe between July and September.

Access to the park is regulated to protect the ecosystem from tourism pressure. From Vall de Boí and from Espot (eastern gateway), the park interior can only be entered by authorised 4x4 taxis or on foot. Private vehicles cannot go beyond the exterior car parks. The Espot taxis go up to Sant Maurici lake, and those from Boí go to the Aigüestortes parking area, both about 20-25 minutes from the park boundary. This access restriction, in place since the 1990s, has allowed the park's flora and fauna to remain in an unusually good state of conservation for a protected area in mainland Spain.

The surrounding area has exceptional cultural heritage. The Vall de Boí concentrates the most important group of Romanesque churches in the Pyrenees: Sant Climent de Taüll, Santa Maria de Taüll, Santa Eulàlia de Erill la Vall, Sant Joan de Boí and four others were inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage in 2000. The apses and bell towers of these churches, built between the 11th and 12th centuries, are a reference point for Lombard Romanesque architecture on the Iberian Peninsula. The Boí Taüll ski resort (highest altitude in Catalonia at 2,750 m) and the quieter pace of valley villages in low season add very different dimensions to a visit.

The park's fauna is representative of the Catalan Pyrenees in good conservation condition. The Pyrenean chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica) forms groups of several dozen individuals in the high glacial cirques; at dawn, when the light strikes the Coma de Vaca meadows or Travessani lake obliquely, chamois move toward grazing areas with a rhythm that seems indifferent to the presence of visitors. The Alpine marmot was reintroduced in the Catalan Pyrenees in the 1970s and now colonises moraine meadows above 2,000 metres. The bearded vulture breeds in the park; its soaring flights above the granite escarpments between the Encantats and Peguera are visible from the main trails. The Pyrenean brook salamander (Calotriton asper), an endemic amphibian of the Pyrenees, inhabits the coldest and best-oxygenated lakes. The multi-day traverse routes between the two park gateways — Espot and Boí — are the most highly regarded hiking product in the Catalan Pyrenees. The standard four-day route passes through the Ernest Mallafré hut (next to Sant Maurici lake), Amitges hut (2,380 m, the highest in the park), Estany Llong and the Aigüestortes area, with daily stages of 5 to 8 hours and elevation changes of 700 to 1,000 metres.