The Garraf Massif (, ) is a mountain range of the

Catalan Coastal Range The Catalan Coastal Range (, ) is a system of mountain ranges running parallel to the Mediterranean Sea coast in Catalonia, Spain. It is part of the Catalan Mediterranean System. Its main axis runs between the Foix River and the Roses Gulf a ...

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 cliffs reach the

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 ...

waters. Its highest point on the coastal side is La Morella, 593 metres above sea level and further inland rises the higher, although less conspicuous, Montau (657 m).

Geography

The Garraf Massif gives its name to the

Garraf Garraf (), is a comarca (county) in the Penedès region in Catalonia, Spain. It is named after the Garraf Massif. The capital is the city of Vilanova i la Geltrú. The GR 92 long-distance footpath, which roughly follows the length of the Me ...

comarca, as well as to the little seashore village of

. It is located south of

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, between the coastal towns of

Castelldefels Castelldefels () is a municipality in the Baix Llobregat comarca, in the province of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain, and a suburban town of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona. Its population is 65,954 ( IDESCAT, 2017). Geography and location ...

and

Sitges ; , ) is a town about 35 kilometres southwest of Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain, renowned worldwide for Sitges Film Festival, its film festival, Carnival, and LGBTQ culture. Located between the Garraf Massif and the Mediterranean Sea, it is know ...

. highways C-31 and C-32, as well as the

RENFE Renfe (, ), officially Renfe-Operadora, is Spain's national state-owned railway company. It was created in 2005 upon the split of the former Spanish National Railway Network (RENFE) into the Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias ( ...

Barcelona-Valencia railway line go through the shoreline side of the Garraf Massif. The small town of

Olivella Olivella () is a municipality in Catalonia, in the province of Barcelona, Spain. It is situated in the comarca of Garraf. History The first known village in the area was founded in 992 around a castle known as ''Castell vell''. The inhabitant ...

Plana Novella Plana Novella () is an old country estate and village located on a small plain in the middle of the Garraf Massif National Park, about three kilometers to the east of Jafra and within the municipal boundary of the town of Olivella, Spain. It is ...

with its

Buddhist monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may ...

, as well as the abandoned village of Jafra are located in the middle of the massif, in th
Natural Park area
This coastal

calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime (mineral), lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of Science, scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcare ...

mountain range is sparsely wooded, and has many rocky denuded areas. The main vegetation is

maquis shrubland 220px, Low maquis in Corsica 220px, High ''macchia'' in Sardinia ( , , ) or ( , ; often in Italian; , ; ; ; ) is a savanna-like shrubland biome in the Mediterranean region, typically consisting of densely growing evergreen shrubs. Maquis ...

and the Mediterranean Fan Palm is an endemic species of these mountains. It has over 400 karstic

shafts ''Shafts'' was an English feminist magazine produced by Margaret Sibthorp from 1892 until 1899. Initially published weekly and priced at one penny, its themes included votes for women, women's education, and radical attitudes towards vivisection ...

and

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

s, including La Falconera, a very large cave with an underground lake that is now heavily polluted.

Ecology

Despite having been declared a

Protected Area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

by the

Catalan Government The Generalitat de Catalunya (; ; ), or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia is self-governed as an autonomous community of Spain. It is made up of the Parliament of Catalonia, the President of the Governme ...

, there are many seriously degraded areas throughout the massif. These include

quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to manage their safet ...

and vast rubbish dumps that are very active and keep degrading the mountains and polluting their

karstic Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. There is some eviden ...

underground lakes and rivers. Over 23 million tons of garbage have accumulated in the ''Vall d'en Joan'' landfill alone.

Urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation in British English) is the population shift from Rural area, rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. ...

has covered different zones of the range, especially in locations close to

, as well as on the

side. There the mountain sides are covered with mostly

bungalows A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is typically single or one and a half storey, if a smaller upper storey exists it is frequently set in the roof and windows that come out from the roof, and may be surrounded by wide verandas. Th ...

or small houses, especially in the seafront areas.Xavier Bayer i Cisco Guasch, ''Paratges naturals: Massís del Garraf i conques de l’Anoia, del Foix i del Gaià'',

References

Bibliography

* Estanislau Vayreda, "Catàleg de la flòrula de la Mare de Déu del Mont", ''Treballs de la Institució Catalana d'Història Natural'', 1919–1920, pp. 360–442.

External links

{{Commons category, Massís del Garraf
Garraf

L'acció antròpica sobre les Muntanyes de Garraf
Mountains of Catalonia Garraf

Geography

Ecology

See also

References

Bibliography

External links