Almatret: Hiking Trails, Mining History and Festivals

The Malacate – Mina del Tormo hiking trail from Almatret has been restored and signposted. It runs along the Riba-roja Reservoir and passes a floating island for waterfowl.

Hiking Trails and Landscape

Els Tossals d’Almatret belong to the Catalan system of protected areas, PEIN, designated in 1992, and to Catalonia’s proposal for the Natura 2000 network. Stage 36 from Mequinenza to Almatret reaches Almatret after crossing the Barranco de Aiguamoll and the Mas de Gili valley. On the same stage, the trail passes the abandoned mines of Lluc, where the remains of simple mining facilities have been preserved.

The Almatret – Cingle de la Pena hiking trail begins in Almatret and leads to the Mina de l'Espanyola and the Cingle de la Pena viewpoint above the Ebro. Along this route, the trail follows an old trench from the Spanish Civil War.

History and Buildings

The preserved Malacate ramp is the remains of a machine formerly used to raise and lower coal wagons. The Antiga presó del poble is associated with the death of Francesc Montcada i de Cardona, the first Marquis of Aitona, in 1594.

The Carta de Població of 1301 was written in a medieval context. The document is written in the ecclesiastical Latin of the time and is regarded as establishing the town in its present form.

The parish church of Sant Miquel is an 18th-century Baroque church. Its portal is framed by two columns with composite capitals. The Creu de Terme d'Almatret is a Gothic boundary cross dating from 1608.

La Font is a sculptural ensemble created by Tamarit. It includes a basin made by the local stonemason Antonio Mur. The ensemble was inaugurated in 1971 to celebrate the arrival of running water in 1963.

El Pou de la Vila is a stone well already mentioned in Almatret’s ordinances of 1558. It has a broad stone staircase. Eleven stone washing places have been preserved beside it.

Festivals and Public Places

Almatret’s Sant Blai festival is the main winter festival. It takes place around 3 February on the nearest weekend and is linked to Carnival.

Almatret’s Sant Miquel autumn festival includes communal meals and a public dinner. There are also additional activities for children and adults.

The La Bassa area was designed as a recreational area. Plaça Major is the centre of the town, where most of the streets converge; it is a good place to start a visit to Almatret.

Other Places

Other places in the same wider area: Llarvén, Vilanova De Bellpuig, Estaràs, Les Valls De Valira, Granyanella, Baqueira-Beret, Organyà, Fórnols

To the wider travel overview: Lleida.