Lluçanès () is a

comarca A ''comarca'' (, , , ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain, and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, mark ...

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 ...

, in the central region, transitioning between the

Plain of Vic The Plain of Vic (Catalan language, Catalan ''Plana de Vic'') is a 30 km long Depression (geology), depression located at the eastern end of the Catalan Central Depression in the Osona comarca. It is named after the town of Vic, Spain, Vic, a ...

and

Berguedà Berguedà () is an inland Comarques of Catalonia, comarca in the Comarques Centrals, central region of Catalonia, Spain. It lies partly in the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees, and partly in the Catalan Central Depression. The capital is the city of Berg ...

, in the pre-

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

. It was established as an official comarca in May 2023. The capital is the town of Prats de Lluçanès.

Corresponding municipalities

The administrative comarca, created in May 2023, is made up of the following

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

: Alpens, Lluçà, Olost,

Oristà Oristà () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Lluçanès in Catalonia, Spain. It includes an exclave within Sant Feliu Sasserra. In 2015, the municipality voted to join a proposed new comarca of Lluçanès, but the plan was put on hold d ...

, Perafita, Prats de Lluçanès, Sant Martí d'Albars and

Sobremunt Sobremunt () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Lluçanès in Catalonia, Spain. In 2015, the municipality voted to join a proposed new comarca of Lluçanès, but the plan was put on hold due to insufficient support. Formerly part of Osona, ...

Natural comarca

The natural comarca or historic region, with no administrative status, is made up of all the aforementioned

including the following, all of which rejected joining the newly created comarca: * In the comarca of

Osona Osona () is a comarques of Catalonia, comarca situated in the Central Catalonia, central region of Catalonia, Spain. Its capital is Vic, Spain, Vic. Its population in 2001 was 129,543. Osona covers roughly the same area as the historic Catalan co ...

Sant Agustí de Lluçanès Sant Agustí de Lluçanès () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Osona in Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Cata ...

Sant Bartomeu del Grau Sant Bartomeu del Grau () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Osona in Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalon ...

, Sant Boi de Lluçanès * In the comarca of

Santa Maria de Merlès Santa Maria de Merlès () is a municipality in Catalonia. It is officially within the comarca of Berguedà, but traditionally, it is a part of the natural comarca of Lluçanès. The municipality is located on the ''riera'', or stream, of Merlès, ...

* In the comarca of

Bages Bages () is a comarca (county) in the central region of Catalonia, Spain. The capital is the city of Manresa. Industries include the mining of potash at Súria and Sallent, and the manufacture of textiles along the rivers Llobregat and Car ...

Sant Feliu Sasserra ; ) is a municipality in the extreme north-east of the comarca of Bages, in Catalonia. It is also within the natural comarca of Lluçanès. The municipality's name has its origins in several features of the town. It is named ''Sant Feliu'' after a ...

(formerly part of the administrative comarca itself, voted to return to

just after 8 weeks).

Geography

Lluçanès is a

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

of about 400 km², situated in the north-east of the ''depressió central'' of

. The major waterways of the comarca include the Ter and

Llobregat The Llobregat () is the second longest river in Catalonia, Spain, after the Ter. It flows into the Mediterranean south of the city of Barcelona. Its name could have originated in an ancient Latin word meaning 'dark', 'muddy' or 'slippery', or ...

rivers, into which the

Riera de Merlès The Riera de Merlès is a small river that passes through the ''comarques'' of Osona, Bages, and Berguedà. It is formed by the confluence of several small mountain creeks and torrents that descend the '' Rasos de Tubau'', in the municipalities ...

, Riera de Lluçanès and Gavarresa feed. The comarca has a

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...

transitioning to continental. It has a median temperature of about 12 degrees

Celsius The degree Celsius is the unit of temperature on the Celsius temperature scale "Celsius temperature scale, also called centigrade temperature scale, scale based on 0 ° for the melting point of water and 100 ° for the boiling point ...

, and receives an annual

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...

of between 600 and 900 liters.

Education

Most villages have their own infant and primary schools. The high school responsible for the secondary education is the Castell del Quer Institute.

New comarca proposal

In the ''Report on the revision of Catalonia's territorial organisation model'' of 2000, known as the ''Roca Report'', commissioned by the Catalan government, it was recommended that Lluçanès should become a sub-comarca of Osona. However, following a local campaign for full comarca status, a non-binding

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

was held in the region in July 2015, in which a majority in each of the municipalities of Alpens, Lluçà, Olost, Oristà, Perafita, Prats del Lluçanès, Sant Martí d'Albars, and Sobremunt, which were all in Osona at the time, voted to join a new full comarca, while the other five municipalities voted to remain in their existing comarcas. Several local and national officials expressed disappointment at the result which excludes regions strongly associated with Lluçanès from the proposed new comarca, and called for discussions on ways to resolve the issue, including a repeat of the vote.

References

External links

Consortium of Lluçanès
{{DEFAULTSORT:Llucanes Comarques of Catalonia Comarques of the Province of Barcelona Natural regions of Spain