Guara, the, unfairly, great unknown

Guara is not among the main tourist routes, nor is it even known by many of the inhabitants of the neighboring communities.  And it is a tremendous injustice because the set of unique and world-renowned enclaves that it has give it enough merits of its own to be considered an ideal destination.

Alquézar 

Nominated one of the best tourist towns in the world by the World Tourism Organization in 2022, it receives a large number of visitors who admire its beautiful ninth-century Arab fortress, today a collegiate church, steep on an overwhelming cliff above the Vero River. At its feet the medieval village around the crescent-shaped fortress invites you to immerse yourself in the past. The walkways bordering the river canyon are an impressive walk in which nature demonstrates its strength and beauty.

But there are too many people who, often due to ignorance, are content to visit Alquézar and leave behind an important set of attractions of world relevance that well deserve a longer stay.

Canyons

The Sierra de Guara is known as the cradle of canyoning in Europe, discovered and documented in the 70s and 80s by the French pioneers Lucien Briet and Pierre Minvielle. Together with the Alpes-Maritimes in France and Lake Garda in Italy, they constitute three world landmarks.   The karst relief of limestone rock eroded over millions of years, as well as sublime and breathtaking landscapes, presents a variety of ravines suitable for all levels from family tours to extreme challenges. Its Mediterranean climate allows descents for much of the year, especially in spring and summer.  Guara is also the area with the highest number and density of canyons in Europe with 60 catalogued among which mythical names such as Mascún, la Peonera and Formiga stand out.

Climbing

The Sierra de Guara is internationally recognized as an outstanding destination in the field of climbing and via ferratas, both in Europe and worldwide. The region has been explored since the mid-twentieth century by figures such as Rabadá and Navarro, legendary climbers who marked a before and after in Spanish climbing. In the 80s, European athletes consolidated the Sierra de Guara as an international benchmark. The quality of the limestone rock, with exceptional adhesion and a variety of shapes, provides ideal conditions for the practice of vertical sports, accompanied by a favorable climate for much of the year. Places such as Rodellar, Alquézar and the Mallos de Vadiello have gained renown among the global community attracting elite athletes and adventurers from far and wide.

Prehistoric paintings

The Río Vero Cultural Park is one of the most emblematic spaces in Spain, recognized for its cultural, archaeological and landscape richness. Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1998, this park stands out especially for its shelters with cave paintings, it houses more than 60 decorated shelters, one of the most important concentrations of rock art in Europe, among which the Abrigo de Chimiachas, an exceptional example of Levantine art, the Abrigo del Arpán, a combination of Levantine and schematic art, the Cave of the Fuente del Trucho, Palaeolithic art, and the Abrigo de Regacens, a combination of Levantine and schematic art.

The Ultra-Trail Guara Somontano

It is a mountain race that , for 15 years, covers 100 km of the Sierra de Guara, in its most demanding version. It stands out for its impressive natural beauty and its high level of difficulty, crossing landscapes of great diversity, such as canyons, ravines and mountains. It attracts runners from all over the world, reaching 1,200 participants last year. It is one of the most important Ultra-Trails in Spain and can be compared with other emblematic ultratrails both nationally and internationally such as the Ultra Trail de Montserrat, the Transgrancanaria or the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc due to its relevance within the ultra-distance community.

The millenary holm oak of Lecina

Named Unique Tree of Aragon, Tree of the Year in Spain and European Tree in 2021, this thousand-year-old, impressive and beautiful holm oak has a height of 16.5 m. and the diameter of its crown is 28 m. with an area of 615 m2. Weddings are held under its canopy and pacts have been sealed under its leaves. It even has its own legend that we will tell in another post

Naval Salt Flats

The salt exploitation in Naval has its origins in Roman times. During the Middle Ages, the salt flats became an economic engine of the region, managed by the Señorío de Naval, which regulated their production and distribution. In the centuries that followed, the salt flats continued to operate as part of a traditional agricultural and livestock economy, until in the 20th century industrial techniques displaced the artisanal method, leading to the closure of many similar farms in Spain. In the case of Naval, the salt flats fell into disuse in the second half of the century. Today, the they combine their historical function with a tourist offer that includes guided tours, salt-making workshops and saltwater pools for bathing. The latter are a great attraction, as they allow visitors to experience floating in waters with high saline concentration, similar to the Dead Sea.

Mosen Rafael Ayerbe and the cultivation of the largueta or desmayo almond

Guara also has a researcher of recognized importance.

Father Rafael Ayerbe Castillo, parish priest of Alquézar during the first half of the twentieth century, significantly transformed the production of largueta or desmato almonds. He developed grafting techniques that revolutionized almond cultivation and managed to create more resistant and productive varieties. Their method, known as "the Ayerbe graft", made it possible to take advantage of wild almond trees as rootstocks, significantly improving the adaptation of the new varieties to the soil. Through the selection and improvement of local varieties of almonds, he obtained specimens that combined excellent fruit quality with greater resistance to late frosts. Farmers from all over Spain, and even from abroad, began to take an interest in his methods. His grafting techniques and the varieties he developed spread to other almond-producing regions, contributing to the overall improvement of the sector. The largueta almond has become one of the most important traditional varieties in Spain, particularly in Aragon, Catalonia and other regions of the Ebro Valley.

To all these unique and extraordinary elements must be added many others that are easier to find in other regions but that should not be ignored: impressive sunrises and sunsets, a mild and pleasant climate for most of the year, a landscape of great beauty, calm and tranquility, one of the skies with the least light pollution, almond trees in bloom, routes and walks on foot, by bike and motorbike of varying difficulty, gastronomic and oenological routes, hunting and fishing reserves, bird watching, churches and manor houses, romerias and traditional festivities.

For all these reasons, the beautiful Guara, the unfairly great unknown, deserves to be a destination of reference for visitors whatever their preferences or interests