A jewel at your fingertips. The Montgrí Natural Park, Les Illes Medes and el Baix Ter

As regular readrers of the Newsletter will know, the Castell Montgrí campsite is located in a privileged environment – amongst the Montgrí Natural Park, les Illes Medes and the Baix Ter.  

You may well have already discovered some of the most emblematic sights in the Park but here is a reminder of some its main characteristics.

The landscape of the area includes:

  • The morphology of the Montgrí coast with its exceptional scenic beauty, its haughty cliffs, capes, coves, gulfs, islets and sea caves.
  • The Montgrí mountain massif, which rises between the two plains of l’Alt Empordà and l’Empordanet, with Montplà, Ullà mountain and Montgrí itself as the outstanding peaks.
  • The great continental dune, formed by the onslaught of the Tramuntana wind dragging the sand of the Gulf of Roses and depositing it between the Montgrí massif and the Muntanya Gran.
  • The wetlands formed by the Ter River in its lowest course
  • and finally, the Medes Islands. A great visual presence, resulting in a landscape of unique biodiversity for the Catalan territory. 

In terms of the fauna, the presence of seabirds, some birds of prey and rock birds stand out. Among them there is the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), the common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), the Eurasian eagle owl (Bubo bubo), the western jackdaw (Corvus monedula) and in the most coastal area the European shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis). 

In the large areas of garrigue, which is also an important breeding ground, you will find the Montagu’s harrier (Circus pygargus) and the Bonelli’s eagle (Hieraaetus fasciatus).

And in the caves of the massif we find the bent-winged bat (Miniopterus schreibersii), which make one of the biggest monospecific populations in Catalonia

The Western cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis), the little egret (Egretta garzetta) and the black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) are to be found in the humid areas of the Baix Ter, which form some of the most diverse colonies of ardeidas nesters in Catalonia. 

Finally, the population of Iberian wild goats (Capra pyrenaica) that has inhabited the Montgrí massif since 2008, has gone from half a dozen specimens to about 300 in just over a decade.

You will find more information about the Natural Park in this link:

https://parcsnaturals.gencat.cat/ca/xarxa-de-parcs/illes-medes/inici/