SPAIN: CATTLE DRIVE IN CATALONIA

HORSEBACK TRAIL RIDE IN SPAIN IN CATALONIA
INDICATIVE ITINERARY *

DAY 1: Welcome.
The farm, a true gateway to the charming Empordà region, welcomes you for the beginning of your experience. Before dinner, we'll introduce you to the unique characteristics of Arabian crossbred horses. After dinner, we'll outline the week's program and discuss the ideal horse for you. 

DAY 2: Start of the trek.
After breakfast and saddling, you'll leave the farm following a ridge offering spectacular views of the forest, trekking through rosemary and thyme. As you reach the Fluviá, leaving the rolling hills behind for the plain, you'll gallop through olive groves and wheat fields, past farmhouses and churches, and enter the foothills of the Empordà. Today, you won't be riding with the cattle, but preparing for the next day's work. You'll arrive at a charming hotel where you'll dine to the sound of the guitar played by our musician, who will accompany us throughout the week.

DAY 3: Meeting the herd of cattle.
After breakfast, you'll pick up your horse and prepare for the journey. Today, the herd departs at 5:45 a.m. with the shepherd, our livestock expert, from the "Moixa" farm. To reach the first stop in Sant Llorenç de la Muga, where you'll meet the herd and the shepherd, you'll cross a typical, dense, limestone Mediterranean forest. It's a rocky area with old buildings of traditional rural architecture, such as shepherds' shelters and low stone walls. Upon arriving at the Sanctuary of Saint-Quirze d'Olmells, the vegetation changes dramatically, giving way to a Mediterranean forest that extends to the Palau Surroca plain and La Roca Castle. From there, to Terrades, you'll make a short break near the Sanctuary of Sant Sebastià. You then continue along a path along the main road to the village of Sant Llorenç de La Muga for lunch. After a two-hour break, you resume your journey with the cattle, which takes you to Albanyà. Once there, you go to the Bassegoda campsite, where you have dinner and spend the night, leaving the horses with the cattle in a nearby field. You spend the night in small, comfortable wooden bungalows. This is an ideal place for wildlife lovers in the great outdoors. It is a true gateway to the wilderness, because for the next 48 hours, the only traces of civilization we will find are a few chapels from the 11th and 12th centuries and a few ruined houses. There will be no telephone signal during this time. 

DAY 4 Crossing the Bassegoda Massif.
After breakfast, you head to the pasture where the horses are kept and prepare everything for the next two days, which promise breathtaking views and fresh air. At lunchtime, you join the cattle that left earlier in the morning. After the picnic, you help gather the scattered livestock. From now on, you see no more roads or cars and enter the Bassegoda Massif (895 m/2,895 ft), which dominates the entire valley. You follow the trails parallel to the Pincaro stream, a tributary of the Muga River. This leads you to the Bassegoda Pass and the Principi Pass (1,172 m/3,845,114 ft). Here, on this vast open plain of red pine forests, you rejoin the cattle. You ride to the Comella house for your picnic and leave the cattle there. You then ride to the "Morato" where you set up camp with tents and campfires and spend a pleasant evening, letting the horses graze freely around you. The cultural value of this valley is of great importance. There are about 15 sanctuaries, shrines, and monasteries, all dating from the years 980 and 1200 AD. The most important are Sant Pere de Albanyà, Sant Bartomeu del Pincaró, Sant Miquel de Bassegoda, and Sant Julià de Ribelles.

DAY 5: In the heart of nature.
After breakfast, you gather the horses and prepare everything for the day. You must retrieve the cattle from the "La Comella" house, where they stayed the day before. You begin a gentle zigzag descent, following and crossing the river. You pass by the "La Comella" house, which gives its name to the river you follow. You also pass by St. Julià de Ribelles, leaving the path to the Muga Inn on your right. You then follow the road to the Morató plain, fed by the Muga River. You leave the cattle there for the night and have your daily picnic. After lunch, you rest and, if the weather permits (and if you're brave enough!), you can swim in the clear waters of the river.

DAY 6: Return to civilization.
After an authentic cowboy breakfast, you saddle the horses. Once everyone is gathered to round up the cows, you take a very narrow trail, surrounded by dense woods. You cross an extremely dense forest, where you will have to protect yourself from branches while being careful not to lose sight of the cows. To your left, you see the Pic de les Bruixes, literally "Witches' Peak." A precipice forces you to head towards the Coll de les Falgueres, which magically appears as a clearing in the middle of this mysterious forest. You will then have crossed the French border, where the trails will be wider and easier. From there, you descend to the river that runs through the village of La Manère, then climb back up the other side to the Coll del Malrem, crossing the border again, this time into Spain. From there, you round up the cattle to bring them back down. After crossing a dense beech and oak forest and passing the Coll de Malrem, you begin a gentle descent to the Can França road. You stop for a picnic. From there, horses and cows continue their journey to the small village of Rocabruna, where you spend the night in a rural inn located in the heart of a typical Garrotxa forest.

DAY 7: In Search of Eternal Spring.
Wake up at 8 a.m. and after a typical Catalan breakfast, you saddle up for the last time. You then collect the cattle and lead them towards the Rocabruna road, then to the village of Font-Rubí. You begin your final descent via Coll Pregon to the village of Camprodon, which you pass through because the cattle trail always runs right through the village. Locals and tourists await you… your arrival is spectacular! You then take the Setcases road and make your final stop at the Moixa de Llanars farmhouse, where you leave the cattle and horses, marking the end of your pastoral trek. After lunch, you spend the afternoon relaxing at the Camprodon Hotel.

DAY 8: Adios Amigos.
Breakfast and transfer from the hotel to the airport.

* Indicative itinerary that can be modified if necessary.