Valle de Salazar

The Valle de Salazar runs north to south through the Navarrese Pyrenees, drained by the Salazar river and, at its northern headwaters, by the Irati river. It borders France to the north, the Valle de Roncal to the east, Aezcoa to the west and the Almiradio de Navascues to the south. Its total area reaches 32,642 hectares, including communal forests of Irati (6,520 ha), Abodi (1,210 ha) and other shared woodlands managed for centuries by the valley's neighbourhood councils.

The valley is formed by fourteen villages: Ochagavia, Escaroz, Jaurrieta, Oronz, Esparza, Ibilcieta, Sarries, Guesa, Igal, Izal, Gallues, Iciz, Uscarres and Izalzu. Ochagavia, the best known, is considered one of the most attractive villages in Navarra: its stone houses with slate roofs line the banks of the Anduna river, crossed by a medieval bridge connecting the old quarter with the church of San Juan Evangelista. Its cobbled streets carry the scent of firewood smoke, especially in the cold months when morning fog settles between the rooftops at dawn.

The valley's natural centrepiece is the Irati Forest, the second largest beech-fir woodland in Europe after Germany's Black Forest, covering 17,179 hectares. Most of this forest is shared between the Salazar and Aezcoa valleys, and its conservation earned it UNESCO World Heritage status in 2017 as part of the Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe. Themed trails in Irati, such as the Cubo waterfall path and the Errekaidorra route, wind through centuries-old beech trees whose canopies filter the light into a greenish half-shadow at ground level.

The valley's culture remains tied to transhumant herding. Flocks of latxa sheep climb to the mountain pastures of Irati in spring and descend to the Bardenas Reales plains with the first snowfalls, a practice dating back to the Neolithic. Traditions are kept alive through festivals such as the dancers of Ochagavia, the Axuri Beltza, the Jaurrieta dance (performed exclusively by women) and the Orhipean festival, where residents of Ochagavia recreate life in the Pyrenees a century ago at the end of each summer.

Local cuisine centres on lamb, shepherd's cheese, migas and forest produce: mushrooms in autumn, sloe berries for pacharan liqueur and mountain honey. Accommodation consists of rural guesthouses and small hotels in Ochagavia and Escaroz, with limited capacity that preserves the area's tranquillity. The NA-178 road from Pamplona is the main access route, a roughly ninety-minute drive that passes through the Foz de Arbayun, another gorge of notable geological interest.