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No one can talk about skiing in Spain without mentioning Baqueira/Beret, the biggest ski resort paradise in all of the Pyrenees and Spain. Baqueira boasts 100 kilometres of skiiable slopes, peaking between 1,600 and 2,500 metres in altitude. The Baqueira resort is located in the heart of the D'Aran Valley, in Lerida, and was created due to the numerous towns and municipities that have written its history and turned it into a present-day tourist destination.
Baqueira is divided into three parts: Baqueira, Verte and Bonaigua. Due to the height and orientation of the ski resort, it tends to maintain a constant and ample snow throughout the entire winter season. This place is special, and its spectacular natural environment is a white wonderland, just waiting to be explored. Fifty municipalities surround this ski resort, which are dotted with stone and Roman churches, all adding to the enchantment of this place.
The Baqueira Beret Ski Station is located in the D'Aran Valley, a natural Pyrenean border between the Lerida Province in the extreme Northwest of Catalunya. The main income comes from tourism, as this place normally has a population that barely reaches 3000 people, according to the 2003 census.
The D'Aran Valley holds 33 small towns that are grouped into 6 municipal districts and 9 municipalities: Arres, Les, Bausen, Nauta Aran, Bossòrt, Vielha, Mijaran, Bòrdes, Vilamòs and Canejan, with the most populated of them all having a population of 5000 people.
There are a variety of services in Baqueira, including but not limited to, bars, restaurants (fabulous gastronomy), equipment rentals, hotels, hostals, etc.
Above all, the D'Aran valley is a great place in the Pyrenees to practice all kinds of winter sport: ski, adventurism, hiking, wild boar hunting, fishing, etc... all of these activities are performed in the midst of beautiful forests in which we can see butterflies, fish, and with a little luck, perhaps the endangered brown bear. |