La Molina is a

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

in the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

mountains of northeastern

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, in the municipality of Alp in the ''

comarca A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) 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, ...

'' of

Cerdanya Cerdanya () or often La Cerdanya ( la, Ceretani or ''Ceritania''; french: Cerdagne; es, Cerdaña), is a natural comarca and historical region of the eastern Pyrenees divided between France and Spain. Historically it was one of the counties ...

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

. Together with Masella, it forms the

Alp 2500 Alp 2500 is a ski resort in La Cerdanya, Catalonia, in the Pyrenees mountains of northeastern Spain. It includes the two towns of La Molina and Masella, whose two respective ski areas united to form this resort. The nearest main town is Alp. T ...

resort. It is the site of the first ski lift in Spain, opened on 28 February 1943, and Spain's first

ski school A ski school is an establishment that teaches skiing, typically in a ski resort. The modern version of the ski school was invented by the Austrian ski pioneer Hannes Schneider in the early 1920s when he formalized instruction methods and establi ...

, which opened a year later. It is served by a RENFE / Rodalies train station.

Sport and recreation

The area hosted

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

races in December

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

(women's technical events) and hosted the Snowboarding World Championships in January

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

. In 2013 the resort hosted the 2013 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships. New facilities such as a new track with a lift in the area of Pla d'Anyella have been built. On 23 March 2016 the resort was the finishing point for the third stage of the

road cycling Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes Recreational cycling, recreational, Road bicycle racing, racing, Bicycle commuting, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, ...

race the

Volta a Catalunya The Volta a Catalunya (; en, Tour of Catalonia, es, Vuelta a Cataluña, link=no) is a road bicycle race held annually in Catalonia, Spain. It is one of three World Tour stage races in Spain, together with the Vuelta a España and the Tour of th ...

, which was won by

Dan Martin Daniel Martin may refer to: People * Dan Martin (actor) (born 1951), American actor *Dan Martin (drama educator) (born 1953), American academic *Dan Martin (cyclist) (born 1986), Irish road bicycle racer *Dan Martin (footballer) (born 1986), Britis ...

Etixx–Quick-Step Soudal–Quick-Step () is a Belgian UCI WorldTeam cycling team led by team manager Patrick Lefevere. The directeurs sportifs are Davide Bramati, Iljo Keisse, Klaas Lodewyck, Wilfried Peeters, Tom Steels and Geert Van Bondt. The team is nick ...

References

External links

* Ski areas and resorts in Catalonia Pyrenees {{Girona-geo-stub