Wild Collserola: BCN to Cerdanyola via Torrent d'en Fotja
HIKERS PEZ K3 MIX
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Sauva Negra and Castell de Castellcir from Centelles
Our first Midweek Hikers jaunt - to see the little-known 'fageda / hayedo' close to Barcelona, Catalonia's smallest protected space, the Sauva Negra. Much as the beechwood forest is probably the most common type in all of Europe, this far south its presence is anomalous and as such the Catalans have some kind of obsession with the beauty of the fageda which seems to be contagious. This seems to be mostly for the autumn colours, which are almost totally absent from the more typical evergreen forest of the region, dominated by holm oak (alzina) or Aleppo pine (pi blanc), or even the boxes (boix) and yews (teix) of Montserrat. That said, this cultural presence leads hordes of domingueros (and their cars) to descend on the few well-known fagedas, such as Monstseny's Santa Fe or the Fageda d'en Jorda (nice and flat that one) in la Garrotxa, in the autumn season - so if you want some tranquility to go along with your autumnal hues, forget Montseny and seek out the Sauva N...