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Barcelona guided walking tours - Bandit country, no humans, occasional wild boar, spectacular views
Licensed 
for commercial use by Jordi Masagué. More featured photographers here.
Basic data
| grade | strenuous |
| base | Barcelona |
| location tags | Bages, Catalonia, Catalunya, Cataluña, Manresa, Sant Vicenç de Castellet, Terrassa, Vallès Occidental, |
| theme tags | mountain, nature, zombie, |
| walking distance | 18 km / 11.18 miles |
| walking time, excluding breaks | 6 hr |
| total return travel time from base to walk | 2 hr |
| total time from "hello" to "goodbye" | 10.10 hr |
| comments, pingbacks, trackbacks | Show/hide |
Description of the walk
The mountainous terrain between Manresa and Terrassa through which we pass is now a deserted natural park; in the C16-17th it was bandit country–Quijote probably met his bandoleros somewhere along here–and things only really quietened down completely with the reassertion of Madrid’s political authority in 1714. The so-called royal highways were ostensibly constructed (often by chain gangs) for the benefit of merchants and the military and funded retroactively by local taxation. However, the venality of public administration ensured that most remained miserable paths, incapable of supporting the carts for which they were intended. The royal highway that we use for parts of this walk was nothing more than a slight and partial improvement of an ancient and appalling donkey track. It constituted, nevertheless, the only means of exchanging agricultural produce from central Catalunya with value-added & other goods from the coast until the completion of an alternative route from Manresa to the Barcelona-Madrid road in 1835 and the arrival of the train from Terrassa in Manresa in 1859.
Urbanisation with hordes of Central American servants. Walk up riverbed with occasional upward views of La Mola (1104m) and monastery Sant Llorenç del Munt. Large lodge-farmhouse (1330 or earlier). Bandoler terrain hereon. Royal highway with occasional sections with paving and/or primitive walls. Immediate detour to spring and C19th lime kiln (1/2/3) in wonderful mixed forest. Back to highway for climb to hilltop. Breathtaking long views at various points of Sant Llorenç (1/2), Llobregat valley, Montserrat (1/2), Bages, Pyrenees. Home of wild man exiled by Franco from his home town, Terrassa. Lunch by huge sandstone strawstack above cave of legendary bandoler Capablanca. Thief’s Spring hidden away near crime blackspot & gibbet. Small cave (other bigger ones off-track). Cavalier’s Rock, site of prodigious leap. Spectacular (ruined) fortified farms & lodges (1/2), one containing large snake (alleged). Stroll through valley, past church down to textile town with some nice quarries placed at (believe it or not) strategic rail/canal hub. Several interesting bars.
Sources included Antoni Ferrando i Roig’s Les Sendes dels Bandolers and 1:50K ICC map. Optional early start to view remnants of Terrassa’s industrial revolution.
Roughly how much will it cost?
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| number of people (including yourself) in your group |
This is the total size of the group. Unlike other city tours, you won't have to share with a couple of dozen strangers. |
Book this walk
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A 10% discount applies to all walks this summer.
- Barcelona walking tours
- strenuous walking tours
- mountain walking tours
- nature walking tours
- zombie walking tours
- Fri: Max Temp: 28°C (82°F), Min Temp: 23°C (73°F), Wind Direction: SSE, Wind Speed: 10mph, Visibility: good, Pressure: 1015mb, Humidity: 91%, UV risk: high, Sunrise: 06:44CEST, Sunset: 21:10CEST
- Sat: Max Temp: 29°C (84°F), Min Temp: 23°C (73°F), Wind Direction: SSW, Wind Speed: 10mph, Visibility: good, Pressure: 1017mb, Humidity: 71%, UV risk: high, Sunrise: 06:45CEST, Sunset: 21:09CEST
- Sun: Max Temp: 31°C (88°F), Min Temp: 22°C (72°F), Wind Direction: S, Wind Speed: 9mph, Visibility: good, Pressure: 1017mb, Humidity: 50%, UV risk: high, Sunrise: 06:46CEST, Sunset: 21:08CEST
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