The Pyrenees stretch from Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean Sea to the Bay of Biscay, an extension of the Atlantic Ocean between the Ebro River Depression to the South and the Garoina and Aude Rivers to the North.
Pyrenean valleys are typically oriented from North to South except for the sea-side ends and some remarkable valleys, such as the Cerdanya Valley, which explains the small possibility of access from one valley to another. Furthermore, the highest peaks are all mixed, with no remarkable depression separating them, which explains why there are few feasible passes between the two valley slopes. Pica d’Estats, a peak halfway between Pallars Sobirà and País de Foix, is the highest mountain in Catalonia.
The climate in the Pyrenees is a highland climate with a higher rainfall and lower temperatures than the surrounding territory. It serves simultaneously as a climate border between the oceanic Atlantic Climate prevailing in the North-West and the Mediterranean Climate to the South-East.
The flora of the Pyrenees consists of around 4,500 species, 160 of which are endemic. With regard to trees, it is worth mentioning pines, beeches, firs, holm oaks and chestnuts. In the valleys, agriculture is limited to cereals and fruit trees.
The fauna varies between areas. There are 42 mammal species in total. Among the nearly 200 species of animals living there some, like the brown bear hunted almost to extinction, have just been reintroduced, with bears coming from Eslovenia. Nowadays we can see them in the Vall d’Aran valley. Other species in risk of extinction have begun revitalizing, like the chamois, the red deer, the roe and the wild boar.
Among birds, the uncontested king is the bearded vulture. Extinct over almost all Europe, this species has its last shelter in the Pyrenees. Other birds of the Pyrenees are the golden eagle, the bee-eater, the red and black kites, the falcon, the flying gurnard, the tengmalm’s owl and the very rare boreal owl. These are aside from the griffon vulture, the Egyptian vulture and, more recently, the black vulture and the capercaillie. One of the Pyrenean jewels, the ptarmigan, lives in the high mountain.
The fauna and flora of the Pyrenees are protected by nature reserves such as the National Park of Aigüestortes and Estany, the Sant Maurici and the Natural Park of Cadí-Moixeró, as well as areas of great geological interest such as the Garrotxa volcanic area.
The Pyrenees are a privileged environment for winter sports, with the ski resorts of Baqueira-Beret, Boí-Taüll and la Molina; and for adventure sports such as hiking, mountaineering and mountain climbing.
But the architectural, artistic and historical interest of the group of Romanesque churches in this mountain chain make it a very special destination, in particular the churches in Vall de Boí which were declared a World Heritage by UNESCO in the year 2000 and among which Sant Climent de Taüll stands out due to its frescos.