Conca de Barberà () is a comarca (county) in the region of

Camp de Tarragona Camp de Tarragona () is a Natural region, natural and historical region, as well as one of the nine Vegueries of Catalonia, regions (''vegueries'') of Catalonia. It is the third most populated region, with 536,453 inhabitants as of 2022. The re ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Its total area is , and its capital is Montblanc. At its creation in 1936, it contained 23 municipalities, but in 1990, several of these were amalgamated; Rojals was combined with Montblanc, and Montbrió de la Marca was amalgamated with Sarral. Also in 1990, Vallfogona de Riucorb was moved from the Segarra comarca. This resulted in the current total of 22 municipalities.

Geography

The comarca of Conca de Barberà is divided into three geographical zones. The lowland sector consists of the physical Conca de Barberà region: the valleys of the Rivers Francolí and Anguera (''Conca'' means a river valley, and Barberà is one of the principal villages in the valley). The capital of the comarca, Montblanc is at the southern end of this sector at the confluence of these two rivers. The northern edge of the Conca is marked by the Serra del Tallat escarpment, which separates it from the ''Baixa Segarra'' ("Lower

Segarra Segarra () is a Comarques of Catalonia, comarca (county) in Ponent, Autonomous Community of Catalonia, Catalonia (Spain), situated on a high plain. Historically, the name referred to a larger area than the current comarca. It has a continental cl ...

") region, and the south-western zone of the comarca is formed by the Prades Mountains, part of the

Catalan Pre-Coastal Range The Catalan Pre-Coastal Range () is a system of mountain ranges running parallel to the Mediterranean Sea coast in Catalonia. It is part of the Catalan Mediterranean System. Its main axis runs between the Catalan Transversal Range and the Ser ...

. which straddle the border between Conca de Barberà and the adjoining comarcas of Alt Camp,

Baix Camp Baix Camp () is a Comarques of Catalonia, comarca located in the region of Camp de Tarragona, in Catalonia.The capital is the city of Reus. Baix Camp is located on the coast, between Tarragonès to the northeast and Baix Ebre to the south. It als ...

, Garrigues and

Priorat Priorat () is a comarca (county) in Camp de Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. The region is named due to the monastery of Scala Dei which held many properties and the capital is now the town of Falset. Economy The central part of the comarca, ''Pr ...

. These rounded limestone outcrops are clad in forests of

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

and

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description ...

. The climate of the comarca is transitional between a Mediterranean climate and the continental inland climate. The rainfall averages , mostly falling in spring and autumn. It can be foggy in winter and the temperature can rise to in summer. The comarca has a rich and diverse flora and fauna.

Wind power

The northern Serra del Tallat region is the site of several

wind farm A wind farm, also called a wind park or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turbines covering an exten ...

s. When the Catalan Government’s Energy Plan 2006–2015 was prepared with proposals that affected the comarca of Conca de Barberà, opinion was divided. Some municipalities favoured the construction of the wind turbines as generating income which would benefit the community, while others objected to the imposition of such projects by the Catalan authorities without sufficient input by the affected municipalities. In January 2012 it was announced that

wind power Wind power is the use of wind energy to generate useful work. Historically, wind power was used by sails, windmills and windpumps, but today it is mostly used to generate electricity. This article deals only with wind power for electricity ge ...

production in Catalonia had reached 1,000 megawatts, enough to supply over four percent of Catalonia's power needs.

Municipalities

References

External links

Official website

Information about Conca de Barberà on the site of the la Generalitat de Catalunya
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conca De Barbera Comarques of the Province of Tarragona