Climbing in Catalunya – An Uncertain Future.

by Pete O´Donovan A year round ban looms on some of Spain´s finest Crags.The Medi Ambient (Environment Agency)of Lleida has recently published a draft proposal detailing measuresaimed at protecting certain species of flora and fauna on some of themost important cliffs of western Catalunya. If fully implemented,these measures would severely limit activity in what is generallyregarded one of the finest climbing locations in Europe. The proposals concentrate on an areaabout 150 ? 200 kilometres northwest of Barcelona, in the districtsof La Noguera and Alt Urgell, and if these names are not especiallyfamiliar to most UK climbers, then perhaps those of some of thecliffs there are: Terradets, Vilanova de Meià, Camarasa andSanta Linya, to name just a few. “…At this point I should state that, likemany climbers, both here and in Spain, I fully support sensible measures for the protection of wildlife ? particularly birds ofprey, but my experiences on the cliffs of Catalunya over 20 yearsdoes not lead me to believe that what I do for a hobby constitutes amajor threat to their continued existence!” “According to my sources in Catalunya,the main instigators behind the draft proposal are a couple ofhigh-ranking officials who apparently view climbers as only slightlyhigher up the social scale than drug-pushers and paedophiles. Ontheir advice, restrictions have recently come into force in severalother Catalan climbing locations” Read the full article by Pete O´Donovan on UKC HERE

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