Vote the Olha Aranesa from Eth Restilhe favourite dish of the Catalans

The Olha Aranesa from Eth Restilhe restaurant in Garòs has been chosen among the 12 dishes competing for the Cuina magazine’s “El plat favorit dels catalans 2018” competition. The participants are traditional dishes from specific geographical areas, prepared according to recipes that have become famous associated with the toponym of their place of origin.

The first phase, to choose the 4 finalists, takes place from 22 to 31 October. If you are one of those who will go for a good Olha Aranesa dish, click on this link and vote for the most emblematic dish in the Val d’Aran!

Every week there are a hundred prizes to be raffled among all the voters. In addition you can do it several times and each of the participations will be counted in the draws of the prizes.

The Aranese Olha of Restilhè

The Olha Aranesa is a forceful and tasty soup of great energy power, symbol par excellence of the traditional gastronomy of the Aran.

This dish is the speciality of the house of the restaurant Eth Restilhè de Garòs, run for more than 35 years by the Sanllehy-Caubet family. The establishment has maintained the best of the Aranese culinary tradition made with high quality local products and a touch of modernity.

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Presentation tour of the 2018-19 snow season

One more year, Val d’Aran and Baqueira Beret present the novelties of this 2018-2019 season in a promotional tour of different Spanish cities. For more than a month we will visit different places where you can visit us and enjoy an afternoon of surprises and gifts accompanied by an exquisite selection of products from the Val d’Aran and our partners Audi and Salomon.

Come to feel with us the #SpiritBaqueira!

Agenda presentaciones:

22 de OctubreBurgos, Hotel NH Collection Palacio de Burgos*

23 de OctubreLeón, Hotel Conde Luna*

24 de OctubreA Coruña, Hotel NH Collection A Coruña Finisterre*

25-26-27-28 de OctubreLondres, The Telegraph Ski&Snowboard Festival, Battersea Park

26 de OctubreOviedo, AC Hotel Oviedo Fórum*

27 de OctubreSantander, Gran Hotel Sardinero*

29 de OctubreBilbao, Hotel Carlton*

30 de OctubreVitoria, Hotel NH Canciller Ayala*

31 de OctubreSan Sebastián, Hotel Maria Cristina, a Luxury Collection Hotel*

5 de NoviembrePamplona, Hotel Tres Reyes*

6 de NoviembreLleida, Hotel NH Lleida Pirineos*

7 de NoviembreTarragona, Hotel SB Ciutat de Tarragona*

10-11 de NoviembreEstocolmo, Jussi Björlings Allé, Winter Show

13 de NoviembrePalma de Mallorca, Hotel Palma Bellver*

13 de NoviembreToulouse, Voyages Baqueira Beret

16-17 de NoviembreMadrid, Platea (C/Goya, 5-7) de 12 a 22h

19 de NoviembreAlicante, Hotel Spa Porta Maris*

20 de NoviembreValencia, SH Valencia Palace*

22-23-24-25 de NoviembreBarcelona, Illa Diagonal, de 10 a 21h

*Horario: de 18.00h a 21.00h

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Garona exhibition

The exhibition “Garonne” by the artist Louis Durran can be seen in Sant Joan de Arties until 18 November 2018.

The numerous travels of this painter attached to his piece of land at the foot of the Pyrenees in the region of Comminges, have inspired his paintings and also the desire to tell stories with his camera.

In the exhibition “Garonne”, Durran proposes oil paintings, acrylic paintings and mixed media with collages of photos taken with a camera obscura. The author remembers the games and discoveries of his childhood when he was going to swim and discover spaces that seemed wild in the area of the source of the river Garonne in the Val d’Aran and also in the mines of Liat in the Val de Toran. The exhibition, organised by the Val d’Aran Museums network, can be seen in Sant Joan d’Arties from Monday to Saturday from 17:00 to 20:00 h.

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Livestock fairs come back to the Val d'Aran

During the first fortnight of October, and coinciding with the arrival of autumn, various festive days on animals and trade are held in the main Aranese towns, which show one of the activities of the Val d’Aran, livestock, the main sector until several decades ago.

Livestock fairs commemorate the descent of cattle from the mountains to be confined to the stables. This event, which today attracts hundreds of professionals, curious people and tourists, began more than a hundred years ago to show the autochthonous cattle used by farmers in the Aranese fields. Today it has a more commercial and festive air with the parallel organization of artisan markets and traditional popular events, in addition to the livestock exhibition.

LES, 6 OCTOBER
The Les Agricultural and Livestock Fair is one of the main events held in the village, along with the Spring Fair in May and the Purísima Fair in December. In addition to a craft market, a mountain breakfast is offered in the morning.

SALARDÚ, OCTOBER 7
The origins of the Salardú Cattle Fair go back to the time when the village farmers sold the animals that had just come down from the mountains. Nowadays, in addition to the sale and exhibition of horses, sheep, cattle and goats, it has the participation of traders of all kinds of products. In the morning there will also be a popular breakfast offered by the Ajuntament del Naut Aran.

VIELHA, 8 OCTOBER
Traditionally, the Vielha Cattle Fair put an end to the fairs, since a few years ago the Bossòst Fair. It celebrates the XXII Concors de Bestiar, a popular breakfast, craft market, and various activities.

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"Perseguits e sauvats", exhibition in Vielha

“Perseguits e Savuats. No volien que existíssim” is an exhibition about the Jews who walked across the Pyrenees of Lleida, leaving behind their lives, their families and friends and their country in order to live in peace. The exhibition, which you can visit in Santa Maria de Mijaran until 4 November, also talks about the anonymous and disinterested people who lived in the Pyrenees and who supported them.

This travelling exhibition, which has travelled to Toulouse and Sort, is divided into five parts dedicated to the solidarity of anonymous Lleidans, to the triggers that triggered the alarms among the Jewish people, to the methods of repression and to the historical contexts of the Pyrenees and Spain.

Consult here the schedules of the exhibition.

The “Perseguidos y Salvados” (Persecuted and Saved) project is an initiative of the Lleida Provincial Council, which, through the Ilerdencs Institute of Studies, the Tourist Board and the collaboration of town councils, regional councils and the Conselh Generau d’Aran, has as its main objective to recover the memory of the passage through the Lleida Pyrenees of thousands of Jews who fled the Holocaust during the Second World War.

This initiative has also made it possible to recover and signpost the escape routes of Jewish refugees through the Pyrenees of Lleida during the Second World War. There are four signposted routes that run through Val d’Aran and Alta Ribagorça, Pallars Sobirà, Alt Urgell and Cerdanya.

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The mycological days are back

The Jornades micològiques de la Val d’Aran, organised by the Conselh Generau d’Aran, in collaboration with Val d’Aran Tourism and the Societat Catalana de Micologia, are now in their 12th year. During the event, which will take place from 13 to 16 September, different outings are held in the countryside to learn about the biodiversity of mushrooms and visit the territory and places where most of these mushrooms are concentrated. The aim of the conference is to show the great wealth of mycological species of the Aran.

REGULATED COLLECTION
Since 2014 the Conselh Generau d’Aran, regulates the collection of mushrooms in the forests of the Aran Valley through an ordinance that allows residents, owners of second homes and visitors who spend the night in tourist establishments in the Aran Valley, can collect mushrooms in the forests at no cost. To this end, the Conselh Generau issues checkbooks to town halls and hotel accommodation.

Consult the programme of the XII Jornades micològiques:

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News in the Val d'Aran's hiking and mountain biking microsites

The hiking and mountain biking microsites on the website www.visitvaldaran.com have been improved since September in the thematic sections of the maps, which allow easier identification of the routes, as they are classified by difficulty with their geographical location.

Through the Instamaps platform, in each of the activities (BTT and Hiking) we find a map of the Val d’Aran where the proposed routes and itineraries are identified. Clicking on a route opens a window where we find its main characteristics: name, difficulty, distance, image and link to the description of the route. The main actions we can do in each map are:

  • Select/deselect layers
  • Maximize the pop-up window.
  • Measure distances on the map
  • Change the background base (relief map, topographic map, image, satellite,…)
  • Select a route and go to the link to download its description and generate its topographic profile.

The Instamaps tool allows you to make quick updates so that, progressively, we incorporate new information about routes, as well as new tools in the different thematic maps.

MTB CENTER MAP (ARAN TOTAL BIKE)

It also includes the updated routes of the MTB Centre (34) with its departure points (12), the Enduro de Enduromies routes (3) and the Baricauba DH routes (2).

HIKING MAP

It includes signposted routes (24) organized by difficulty, ascents to the most representative tucs (6) and location of mountain refuges and tourist offices.

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The Interpretation Centre of Artiga de Lin highlights this natural setting

Offering visitors a deeper understanding of the natural value of this unique area of Valle de Aran is the aim of the recently inaugurated Artiga de Lin Interpretation Centre. Through an interactive tour, the visitor passes through different spaces that describe, from the glaciations that shaped the Ribera de la Artiga 50,000 years ago, to the native fauna and flora.

The birth and the Uelhs deth Joeu, the history of the Ermita de la Artiga de Lin and the old Hospital, the Es Bordes route, stories of shepherds, traffickers, hikers and refugees, are some of the main attractions of this magical place, one of the routes used by those who managed to escape from the Nazis during the Second World War. It also describes the curiosities of the native insects and the various family hiking routes that can be done in the surrounding area.

The Artiga de Lin Interpretation Centre complements the initiatives of the Government of Aran in this beautiful Aran area, such as the Water Path, the new Artiga de Lin Refuge, which is scheduled to come into operation in September, the connection with the Aneto Aranese route, the connection with the Hospice de France, the tourist train, the habilitation of the parking area and the Artiga de Lin Hermitage.

The entry into operation of the new Interpretation Centre coincides with the start up of the Artiga de Lin tourist train and the entry into force of the motorised access control in the area, which will begin on Friday 20 July and will last until mid-September. The new Interpretation Centre will be open every day from 09:00 to 18:00, coinciding with the tourist train timetable.

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Romanic musicau en la Val d'Aran

The formula that combines explanations of the Romanesque churches in the Val d’Aran with classical music concerts, the already consolidated Romanic Musicau, returns this summer of 2018 to bring tourists to the history of Aranese heritage and show the evolution of Valley monuments linked to their customs and traditions.

The activity begins with an audiovisual presentation about the church where it is celebrated, and ends with a concert of classical music. Sponsored by the Conselh Generau d’Aran and Foment de Torisme dera Val d’Aran, with the collaboration of the Talhèer de musica Maite Fernández the Escòla Musica Val d’Aran, the Escòla Tschaikovski Balh e Musica and the Arxiprestat dera Val d’Aran, this free cycle reinforces the program of guided tours to heritage that holds the Conselh Generau d’Aran.

This year is the 20th anniversary of the Romanic Musicau and, as a novelty, a guided visit to the Vilac Bell Tower has been organised on 3 August at 10:00 and to the Ecomuseu Çò de Joanchiquet in Vilamòs on 10 August at 19:00.

Download here the Summer 2018 Romanic Musicau diptycht

Dança e musica in the Val d'Aran

Bailes típicos araneses en los diferentes pueblos de la Val d’Aran.

Once again this year, dances and music are the protagonists of many of the cultural activities organised in Valle de Aran.
From July 25th to September 8th, Es Corbilhuèrs de Les, Era Còlha Santa Maria de Mijaran, Es Sautarèths de Bossòst and Es Fradins de Vielha will perform in the Aranese towns.