Preface
Protected natural areas deserve the combination of nature uniqueness and conservation
willing. The foundation stone for National Parks is the awareness of that unique character—actual or presumed, most times based on non-tangible properties or singularities
—grown in some social sectors, followed by the aim of preserving particular biota,
singular ecosystems or entire landscapes. This was the case for the Aigüestortes i Estany
de Sant Maurici National Park. Like other protected areas in alpine mountains, its
apparent wilderness was a key factor in declaring it National Park, in 1955. The rough
relief carved in the Maladeta granodiorite batholith, including rocky crests and summits,
steep slopes and glacial valley bottoms, had for long grabbed attention. The abundance
of alpine lakes and other water-related systems must have been particularly attractive, in
comparison with other Iberian mountains, and even with other Pyrenean areas.
The interest of these mountains has not been evenly valued by people during the
last centuries. Indeed, an old recurrent feeling of the local inhabitants has been to
consider them as ‘damned mountains’, a kind of God’s punishment, given the poor
use and strong limitations inherent to most of their extension. Contrarily, those
Pyrenean mountains evoked in some cultivated people myths and legends or at least
fantastic wilderness. This is best exemplified by the much acclaimed Romantic
Catalan poet Jacint Verdaguer, who struck by the powerful landscape of the
Pyrenean high mountains, wrote in the poem Canigó (1886):
Quins crits més horrorosos degué llançar la terra
infantant en ses joves anyades eixa serra!
que jorns de pernabatre!, que nits de gemegar!
per traure a la llum pura del sol eixes muntanyes,
del centre de sos cràters, del fons de ses entranyes,
com ones de la mar!
...
What terrible wails the Earth must have issued
Giving birth to these mountains in her youth!
What restless days! What groaning nights!
To eject such mountains into the pure light of the Sun
From the heart of her craters, from the depths of her entrails,
Like waves sweeping across the sea!
...
Passaren anys, passaren centúries de centúries
abans que s’abrigassen de terra i de boscúries
aqueixes ossamentes dels primitius gegants,
abans que tingués molsa la penya, flors les prades,
abans que les arbredes tinguessen aucellades,
les aucellades cants
Years passed; centuries of centuries passed
Before soil and wood began to cloak
These bones of the ancient giants,
Before the outcrops bore moss; the meadows, flowers,
Before the woodlands were filled with birds;
The birds with song.
v
Protected natural areas deserve the combination of nature uniqueness and conservation
willing. The foundation stone for National Parks is the awareness of that unique character—actual or presumed, most times based on non-tangible properties or singularities
—grown in some social sectors, followed by the aim of preserving particular biota,
singular ecosystems or entire landscapes. This was the case for the Aigüestortes i Estany
de Sant Maurici National Park. Like other protected areas in alpine mountains, its
apparent wilderness was a key factor in declaring it National Park, in 1955. The rough
relief carved in the Maladeta granodiorite batholith, including rocky crests and summits,
steep slopes and glacial valley bottoms, had for long grabbed attention. The abundance
of alpine lakes and other water-related systems must have been particularly attractive, in
comparison with other Iberian mountains, and even with other Pyrenean areas.
The interest of these mountains has not been evenly valued by people during the
last centuries. Indeed, an old recurrent feeling of the local inhabitants has been to
consider them as ‘damned mountains’, a kind of God’s punishment, given the poor
use and strong limitations inherent to most of their extension. Contrarily, those
Pyrenean mountains evoked in some cultivated people myths and legends or at least
fantastic wilderness. This is best exemplified by the much acclaimed Romantic
Catalan poet Jacint Verdaguer, who struck by the powerful landscape of the
Pyrenean high mountains, wrote in the poem Canigó (1886):
Quins crits més horrorosos degué llançar la terra
infantant en ses joves anyades eixa serra!
que jorns de pernabatre!, que nits de gemegar!
per traure a la llum pura del sol eixes muntanyes,
del centre de sos cràters, del fons de ses entranyes,
com ones de la mar!
...
What terrible wails the Earth must have issued
Giving birth to these mountains in her youth!
What restless days! What groaning nights!
To eject such mountains into the pure light of the Sun
From the heart of her craters, from the depths of her entrails,
Like waves sweeping across the sea!
...
Passaren anys, passaren centúries de centúries
abans que s’abrigassen de terra i de boscúries
aqueixes ossamentes dels primitius gegants,
abans que tingués molsa la penya, flors les prades,
abans que les arbredes tinguessen aucellades,
les aucellades cants
Years passed; centuries of centuries passed
Before soil and wood began to cloak
These bones of the ancient giants,
Before the outcrops bore moss; the meadows, flowers,
Before the woodlands were filled with birds;
The birds with song.
v