Pyrenees Guide

The Pyrenees are a range of mountains in southwest Europe that form a natural border between France and Spain. They separate the Iberian Peninsula from the rest of continental Europe, and extend for about 430 km (267 mi) from the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean Sea.

For the most part, the main crest forms a massive divider between France and Spain, with the tiny country of Andorra sandwiched in between. Catalonia and Navarre have historically extended on both sides of the mountain range, with small northern portions in France and much larger southern parts in Spain

Etymology
Pyrene is the nymph of classical mythology who, according to legend, gave its name to the Pyrenees.

This legend attempts to explain (but not very well) how a mountain range that was worshipped as a god by the early inhabitants came to be.

According to the legend, the hero Heracles came to Iberia, with the purpose of stealing the oxen of Gerión, a monstrous giant who attempted to possess the nymph Pyrene. But Pyrene fled and hid in an area between Spain and France. Gerión then burned the entire area in order to find her. Pyrene, on the verge of burning to death, shrieked and cried in desperation, and her tears created the mountain lakes. Heracles heard her and came to her rescue. When he found her, the nymph was already in agony and only had time enough to tell the hero what has happened.

Heracles, deeply moved by Pyrene’s tragic ending, erected a mausoleum over her dead body, by piling up all the stones and rocks he could find, thus creating a great mountain range that he called the Pyrenees in memory of Pyrene.

Geography

The Spanish Pyrenees are part of the following provinces, from east to west: Girona, Barcelona, Lleida, Huesca, Navarra, and Guipúzcoa.

The French Pyrenees are also part of the following départements, from east to west: Pyrénées-Orientales, Aude, Ariège, Haute-Garonne, Hautes-Pyrénées, and Pyrénées-Atlantiques (the latter two of which include Pyrenees National Park).

The independent principality of Andorra is sandwiched in the eastern portion of the mountain range between the Spanish Pyrenees and French Pyrenees.

Physiograpically, the Pyrenees are typically divided into three sections: the Atlantic (or Western), the Central, and the Eastern Pyrenees. Together, they form a distinct physiographic province of the larger Alpine System division.

The Central Pyrenees extend westward from the Aran Valley to the Somport pass, and they include the highest summits of this range:

Pico d'Aneto or Pic de Néthou 3,404 metres (11,168 ft) in the Maladeta ridge,
Posets peak 3,375 metres (11,073 ft),
Mont Perdu or Monte Perdido 3,355 metres (11,007 ft).
In the Western Pyrenees, the average elevation gradually increases from the west to the east, from the Basque mountains near the Bay of Biscay of the Atlantic Ocean. In the Eastern Pyrenees, with the exception of one break at the eastern extremity of the Pyrénées ariégeoises, the mean elevation is remarkably uniform until a sudden decline occurs in the easternmost portion of the chain known as the Albères.

Geology

The Pyrenees are older than the Alps: their sediments were first deposited in coastal basins during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras. Between 100 and 150 million years ago, during the Lower Cretaceous period, the Bay of Biscay fanned out, pushing present-day Spain against France and putting large layers of sediment in a vise grip. The intense pressure and uplifting of the Earth's crust first affected the eastern part and stretched progressively to the entire chain, culminating in the Eocene epoch.

The eastern part of the Pyrenees consists largely of granite and gneissose rocks, while in the western part the granite peaks are flanked by layers of limestone. The massive and unworn character of the chain comes from its abundance of granite, which is particularly resistant to erosion, as well as weak glacial development.

Landscape
Conspicuous features of Pyrenean scenery are:

the absence of great lakes, such as those that fill the lateral valleys of the Alps
the rarity and great elevation of passes
the large number of the mountain torrents locally called gaves, which often form lofty waterfalls, surpassed in Europe only by those of Scandinavia
the frequency with which the upper end of a valley assumes the form of a semicircle of precipitous cliffs, called a cirque.
The highest waterfall is Gavarnie (462 m or 1,515 ft), at the head of the Gave de Pau; the Cirque de Gavarnie, in the same valley, together with the nearby Cirque de Troumouse and Cirque d'Estaubé are notable examples of the cirque formation. Low passes are lacking, and the principal roads and the railroads between France and Spain run only in the lowlands at the western and eastern ends of the Pyrenees, near sea level. Between the two ends of the range, the only passes worth mentioning are the Col de la Perche, between the valley of the Têt and the valley of the Segre, the Port d'Envalira, the highest mountain pass in the Pyrenees and one of the highest points of the European road network, and the Col de Somport or Port de Canfranc, where there were old Roman roads, but apparently, no modern highways.

A notable visual feature of this mountain range is La Brèche de Roland, a gap in the ridge line, which - according to legend - was created by Roland.

Natural resources
The metallic ores of the Pyrenees are not in general of much importance now, though there were iron mines at several locations in Andorra, as well as at Vie de Sos in Ariège, and the foot of Canigou in Pyrénées-Orientales long ago. Coal deposits capable of being profitably worked are situated chiefly on the Spanish slopes, but the French side has beds of lignite. The open pit of Trimoun (Ariège) is one of the greatest sources of talc in Europe.

Mineral springs are abundant and remarkable, and especially noteworthy are the hot springs, of which the Alps are very deficient. The hot springs, among which those of Les Escaldes in Andorra, Ax-les-Thermes, Panticosa, Lles, Bagnères-de-Luchon and Eaux-Chaudes in France may be mentioned, are sulphurous and mostly situated high, near the contact of the granite with the stratified rocks. The lower springs, such as those of Bagnères-de-Bigorre (Hautes-Pyrénées), Rennes-les-Bains (Aude) and Campagne-sur-Aude (Aude), are mostly selenitic and not very cold.

Climate
The amount of the precipitation the range receives, including rain and snow, is much greater in the western than in the eastern Pyrenees, because of the moist air that blows in from the Atlantic Ocean over the Bay of Biscay. After dropping its moisture over the western and central Pyrenees, the air is usually dry over the eastern Pyrenees. The winter average temperature is -2 C.

Sections of the mountain range in more than one respect. Some glaciers are found in the western and especially the snowy central Pyrenees, but the eastern Pyrenees are without any glaciers - with the quantity of snow falling there being insufficient to cause their development. The glaciers are confined to the northern slopes of the central Pyrenees, and do not descend, like those of the Alps, far down into the valleys, but have their greatest lengths along the direction of the mountain chain. They form, in fact, in a narrow zone near the crest of the highest mountains. Here, as in the other great mountain ranges of central Europe, there is great evidence of a much wider extension of the glaciers during the Ice Ages. The case of the glacier in the valley of Argeles Gazost, between Lourdes and Gavarnie, in the département of Hautes-Pyrénées is the best-known instance.

The snow-line varies in different parts of the Pyrenees from about 2,700 to 2,800 metres above sea level.

Flora and fauna

A still more marked effect of the preponderance of rainfall in the western half of the chain is seen in the vegetation. The lower mountains in the extreme west are wooded, but the extent of forest declines eastwards, and the eastern Pyrenees are peculiarly wild and barren, all the more since it is in this part of the chain that granitic masses prevail. There is a change, moreover, in the composition of the flora in passing from west to east. In the west the flora resembles that of central Europe, while in the east it is distinctly Mediterranean in character, though the difference of latitude is only about 1°, on both sides of the chain from the centre whence the Corbières stretch north-eastwards towards the central plateau of France. The Pyrenees are relatively as rich in endemic species as the Alps, and among the most remarkable instances of that endemism is the occurrence of the monotypic genus Xatardia (family Apiaceae), only on a high alpine pass between the Val d'Eynes and Catalonia. The genus most abundantly represented in the range is that of the saxifrages, several species of which are endemic here.

The Pyrenean Ibex mysteriously became extinct in January 2000; the native Pyrenean brown bear was hunted to near-extinction in the 1990s, but it was re-introduced in 1996 when three bears were brought from Slovenia. The bear population has bred successfully, and there are now believed to be about 15 brown bears in the central region around Fos, but only four native ones are still living in Aspe valley.

In their fauna the Pyrenees present some striking instances of endemism. The Pyrenean Desman is found only in some of the streams of the northern slopes of these mountains, but the only other member of this genus are confined to the rivers of the Caucasus in southern Russia. The Pyrenean euprocte (Euproctus pyrenaicus), an endemic relative of the salamander, also lives in streams and lakes located at high altitudes. Among the other peculiarities of the Pyrenean fauna are blind insects in the caverns of Ariège, the principal genera of which are Anophthalmus and Adelops.

Protected areas

Principal nature reserves and national parks:

Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park (Spain)
Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park (Spain)
Pyrénées National Park (France)

Demographics and culture

The Pyrenean region possesses a varied ethnology, folklore and history: see Andorra; Aragon; Ariege; Basque Country; Béarn; Catalonia; Navarre; Roussillon. For their history, see also Almogavars, Marca Hispanica.

The principal languages spoken in the area are Spanish, French, Catalan (in Catalonia and Andorra), Basque, and Aragonese . Also spoken, to a lesser degree, are the Occitan language (the Gascon and Languedocien dialects in France and the Aranese dialect in the Aran Valley).

Sports and leisure

Both sides of the Pyrenees are popular spots for winter sports such as alpine skiing and mountaineering. The Pyrenees are also a good place for European and North African athletes to do high-altitude training in the summertime, such as by bicycling and cross-country running.

In the summer and the autumn, the Pyrenees are usually featured in two of cycling's epic grand tours, the Tour de France held annually in July and the Vuelta a España held in September. The stages held in the Pyrenees are often crucial legs of both tours, drawing hundreds of thousands of spectators to the region, too.

Three main long-distance footpaths run the length of the mountain range; the GR 10 across the northern slopes, the GR 11 across the southern slopes, and the HRP which traverses peaks and ridges along a high altitude route. In addition, there are numerous marked and unmarked trails throughout the region.

Ski resorts
Ski resorts in the Pyrenees include:

Alp 2500 (Spain)
Arette (France)
Astún (Spain)
Artouste (France)
Ax-les-Thermes (France)
Baqueira-Beret (Spain)
Boí Taüll Resort (Spain)
Bareges-La Mongie (Tourmalet) (France)
Luz Ardiden (France)
Bourg-d'Oueil (France)
Cauterets (France)
Candanchú (Spain)
Cerler (Spain)
Espot Esquí (Spain)
Font-Romeu (France)
Formigal (Spain)
Gavarnie Gèdre(France)
Gourette (France)
Guzet-neige (France)
Hautacam (France)
La Pierre Saint Martin
Le Mourtis (France)
Les Angles (France)
Luchon-Superbagnères
Luz-Ardiden (France)
Nistos cap nestes (France)
Panticosa-Los Lagos (Spain)
Pas de la Casa (Andorra)
Peyragudes (France)
Piau-Engaly (France)
Port Ainé (Spain)
Port del Comte (Spain)
Somport (France-Spain)
Soldeu / El Tarter (Andorra)
Superbagnères (France)
Tavascan (Spain)
Vall de Núria (Spain)
Vallnord (Andorra)
Vallter 2000 (Spain)

Highest summits

Aneto (3,404 m)
Posets (3,375 m)
Monte Perdido (3,355 m)
Pic Maudit (3,350 m)
Cilindro de Marboré (3,328 m)
Pic de la Maladeta (3,308 m)
Vignemale (Pique Longue) (3,298 m)
Clot de la Hount (3,289 m)
Soum de Ramond (3,263 m)
Pic du Marboré (3,248 m)
Pic de Cerbillona (3,247 m)
Pic de Perdiguère (3,222 m)
Pic de Montferrat (3,220 m)
Pic Long (3,192 m)
Pic Schrader (Grand Batchimale) (3,177 m)
Pic de Campbieil (3,173 m)
Pic de la cascade orientale (3,161 m)
Pic Badet (3,160 m)
Pic du Balaïtous (3,144 m)
Pic du Taillon (3,144 m)
Pica d'Estats (3,143 m)
Punta del Sabre (3,136 m)
Pic de la Munia (3,134 m)
Pointe de Literole (3,132 m)
Pic des Gourgs Blancs (3,129 m)
Pic de Royo (3,121 m)
Pic des Crabioules (3,116 m)
Pic de Maupas (3,109 m)
Pic Lézat (3,107 m)
Pic de la cascade occidental (3,095 m)
Pic de Néouvielle (3,091 m)
Pic de Troumouse (3,085 m)
Pics d'Enfer (3,082 m)
Pic de Montcalm (3,077 m)
Grand pic d' Astazou (3,077 m)
Épaule du Marboré (3,073 m)
Pic du port de Sullo (3,072 m)
Pic des Spijeoles (3,066 m)
Pic de Quayrat (3,060 m)
Pic des Trois Conseillers (3,039 m)
Turon de Néouvielle (3,035 m)
Pic de Batoua (3,034 m)
Petit Vignemale (3,032 m)
Pic de Besiberri Sud (3,017 m)
Pic Ramougn (3,011 m)
Tour du Marboré (3,009 m)
Casque du Marboré (3,006 m)
Grande Fache (3,005 m)

Notable summits below 3,000 metres

Pic de Palas (2,974 m)
Pic de Comapedrosa (2,942 m) - highest point of Andorra
Pic Carlit (2,921 m)
Puigmal (2,913 m)
Pic de Sanfonts (2,894 m)
Pic d'Envalira (2,827 m)
Collarada (2,886 m)
Pic du Midi d'Ossau (2,885 m)
Pic du Midi de Bigorre (2,876 m)
Mont Valier (2,838 m)
Petit Pic du Midi d'Ossau (2,812 m)
Pic du Canigou (2,786 m)
Peña Telera (2,764 m)
Casamanya (2,740 m)
Pic del Port Vell (2,655 m)
Pic dels Aspres (2,562 m)
Pic d'Anie (2,504 m)
Pic de Madrès (2,469 m)
Grande Aiguille d'Ansabère (2,376 m)
Pic du Soularac (2,368 m)
Cap de la cometa delforn (2,691 m)[5]
Pic du Saint Barthélémy (2,348 m)
Pic des Trois Seigneurs (2,199 m)
Pic d'Orhy (2,017 m)
Pic de Pedraforca (2,498 m)
La Rhune (905 m)

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