www.grandtourcatalunya.com ITINERARY 2 MARESME - MONTSENY (250 KM) Regions: El Maresme / La Selva / Osona / El Vallès Oriental In this Itinerary you will embark on a sea and mountain trip. You will cross the region of the Maresme and then you will climb and tread the Montseny mountain range: a per- fect visual and sensorial combination of sea and mountain. It is mainly about capturing landscapes visually with a positive, genuine and primary curiosity. What is perhaps most fascinating is that despite being such a small land surface, it offers such a large diversity of marine, Mediterranean and alpine botanicals, agriculture (orchards), mountains, trails and forms of human society... 1. Blanes To see You will set off in Blanes, threshold of the Costa Brava, to start your current itinerary because it is precisely here that you will be able to easily appreciate a change of coast. To the south of Blanes is the mouth of the Tordera River and where the somehow rec- tilinear coastline begins, generally low and stretches as far as the hill of Montgat and is called The Maresme. In fact, the region of the Maresme is a geographical unit that inclu- des the pre-coastal mountain range called Montnegre and the Corridor (Natural Parks), covered with lush Mediterranean forests, and the rolling slopes that gently descend until dying in the maritime sands. You can find information about this Park in the Network of Natural Parks of Catalonia: parcs.diba.cat. Very close to the sea are the densest populations, both resident and tourist. The region of the Maresme contains a high human density (almost 400,000 inhabitants in about 400 km2) concentrated mainly in coastal populations. If you looked at it from the sea, you would see an almost uninterrupted line of urban settlements reaching the city of Barcelona. On the coast the main communication routes are also concentrated toge- ther (Highway and railway) and this makes the connection of the towns with the bea- ches somewhat uncomfortable and cage-like. 2. Sant Pol de Mar To see Take the N II from Blanes and cross Malgrat de Mar, Pineda de Mar, Calella and finally get 1/10 www.grandtourcatalunya.com to Sant Pol de Mar. Up to Calella, you will observe a great urban density, old and more recent, with some rather anarchic construction styles and a somehow aleatory taste, all combined with some extensions of orchards and extensive Mediterranean pine forests. In Calella, suddenly, the plain becomes a mountain wall that dies in the sea in the form of a cliff. There is the Lighthouse of Calella. In Sant Pol de Mar, you will leave the N II and you will take the secondary road BV 5128 that will take you through more modest towns (Sant Cebrià de Vallalta, Sant Iscle de Vallalta, Arenys de Munt) and will provide you with beautiful panoramas of the low lands and the sea. In Arenys de Munt you will take the C 61 that descends directly to the sea following the course of the stream - Riera - until Arenys de Mar. This stream or Riera splits the mountain range of the natural park of Montnegre and El Corredor into two. The northern part (Montnegre), the largest, is more abrupt, wild and covered with thick Mediterranean pine forests, while the southern part (El Corredor) forms a softer and more pleasant relief that favours agricultural cultivation. These mountain ranges form basins or streams - here called Rieras - short and sporadic seasonal flow, sudden and sometimes violent or even devastating. The longest streams you will cross on your journey are those of Arenys de Munt / Arenys de Mar, Sant Pol and Pineda. The villages of the Maresme have established their famous Ramblas on the edge of their equally famous Rieras -streams- shaded with rows of centennial poplar trees. These Rieras - Ramblas are authentic hubs of commerce, entertainment and intense social life. More information on the City Council website: www.santpol.cat. 3. Arenys de Mar To see Arenys de Mar (15,000 inhabitants) is worth a visit. You will enter through a really broad Avenue that is actually the stream or Riera covered and turned into a colourful Rambla, flanked by two thick rows of magnificent centennial poplar trees, in a slight downhill in a straight direction towards the sea. The fishing port of Arenys is one of the most important and active of the Catalan coast with a long maritime history. It has a large fishing fleet that makes for the daily fish auction. Arenys squid and prawns are greatly appreciated. It also has an important marina and some shipyards with a rich history in the construction of sailboats for commerce and passage that set sails for America in the 19th Century from the Catalan coast. The name of Salvador Espriu, one of the giants in modern Catalan poetry, goes hand in hand with the name of Arenys de Mar and the mythification of his cemetery of Sinera. More information on the City Council website: www.arenysdemar.cat. 2/10 www.grandtourcatalunya.com Accommodation Sa Voga **** (Arenys de Mars) Rusticae Hotel Vila Arenys ****(Arenys de Mar) Relai du Silence Castell de l’Oliver **** (Sant Vicenç de Montalt) Can Mora de Dalt *** (Sant Vicenç de Montalt) 4. Canet de Mar To see Then you will drive to the next town, Canet de Mar, of similar pattern, with its characte- ristic Riera – Rambla although of much more modest proportions than that of Arenys de Mar. In Canet de Mar (12,000 inhabitants), if you profess any admiration for Modernist architecture, you must pay homage to the great architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner in his House Museum. In spite of being born in Barcelona (1849) he spent long sum- mer seasons in Canet and it is here where he directed the construction of his summer residence, the Ateneu and the House Roura in addition to designing some of his most creative works built in Barcelona (Palau of Music and the Hospital of Sant Pau, among others). Also worthy of mention is the reformed design of the Castle of Santa Florenti- na on the outskirts of Canet de Mar. This castle is private but is open to the public on guided tours. It is a brilliant compendium of the creative dreams of Modernism, in this case projected through a medieval building. It is a marvel of wit, creativity, originality and overflowing dreams... Do not miss it! More information on the City Council website: www.canetdemar.org. 5. Horta del Maresme To see Then you must return to Arenys de Mar and take the C 61 and cross the Montnegre and Corredor mountain ranges through the basin or Riera de Arenys de Munt and Vallgorgui- na, leaving the Maresme behind you until reaching Sant Celoni in the interior region of the Vallès Oriental. It is a sinuous and quiet crossing, which will allow you to make a final synthesis of the realities of the Maresme including a last consideration of great impor- tance: The smooth slopes of the Maresme are, together with the orchard of Llobregat, a large food-store of Barcelona since at the beginning of the 20th Century these poor and sandy lands, became irrigated land. The benefit of the water and the contribution of the humid and mild climate of this coast allowed the intensive cultivation (greenhouses), in smallholding, of all types of tubers, vegetables and legumes, famous throughout Ca- 3/10 www.grandtourcatalunya.com talunya. Mataró potatoes, white beans from Malgrat, sweet peas, tasty beans, tomatoes, broccoli, aubergines, wild strawberries and large strawberries, roses and carnations ... If you add the sweet wines of Alella (O.D.) and the oil of the traditional olive trees without forgetting the fish of the Arenys market, you will have quite a complete picture of the gastronomic possibilities of this pleasant, hardworking and bright region. 6. The Montseny Mountain Range To see Once in Sant Celoni, take the C 35 to the North until you find the BV 5115 county road to Gualba. To your left you will have the foothills of the Montseny mountain range which rises like a giant block with its gently haughty profile and which forms three large vo- lumes of considerable height: El Turó de l’Home (1,714 m) les Agudes (1,707 m) and The Matagalls (1,671 m) in addition to the plateau or highland de la Calma (1,200 m). The- se volumes are fended with great valleys with soft, elegant and leafy slopes. This land is never rough or overly abrupt. It is a mosaic of Mediterranean and Central European landscapes of great beauty and biodiversity that has always inspired poets and artists, enchanted hikers and walkers, dazzled mushroom seekers and photographers, making motorists and cyclists get up early in the morning and awakening the admiration and appetite in the rest of mortals. It is a Natural Park protected since 1977 and Biosphere Reserve (UNESCO) since 1978. It has an area of 31,000 ha. which covers the perimeter of the range approximately from the height of 700 m. The Montseny range rises like a majestic island between the plains of the regions of Vallès Oriental, Osona and La Selva. Find information about this Park in the Network of Natural Parks of Catalonia: parcs. diba.cat and on the web: www.turisme-montseny.com. 7. Gualba To see Once you arrive in Gualba (840 inhabitants), a bright village, surrounded by lush forests, trees and avenues of poplars, rich in water, located in a quiet valley at the foot of the Montseny, you can consider the possibility of entering the Environmental Park of Gualba either to have a family picnic or to undertake a pleasant excursion following the stream –Riera- of Gualba enjoying its prodigious riverbank forest.