The Serra de Collserola (), or simply Collserola, is a
mountain range
A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...
between the rivers
Besòs and
Llobregat. It is part of the
Catalan Coastal Range.
These mountains separate
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 ...
from the
Vallès
El Vallès (or simply Vallès) is a historical county in Catalonia, Spain, located in the center of the Catalan Pre-Coastal Range. It is nowadays represented by two separate administrative divisions (Comarques of Catalonia, ''comarques'') which a ...
plain and their tallest peak is the
Tibidabo
Tibidabo () is a hill overlooking Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. At , it is the tallest hill in the Serra de Collserola. Rising sharply to the north-west, it has views over the city and the surrounding coastline.
The summit of the hill is occupi ...
, at 512 m. Other main summits are:
Turó del Puig,
Puig d'Olorda,
Turó de Valldaura,
Turó de la Magarola,
Puig d'Ossa, and
Puig Madrona. The valleys of the Llobregat and Besós Rivers, the plain of Barcelona, and the Vallès basin, mark the geographical boundaries of the Collserola massif.
Collserola Park
To preserve the area, in 1987 the Parc de Collserola (Collserola Park), which has an area of 84.65 km
2, was established.
Decret de 19 d'octubre de 2010, de declaració del Parc Natural de la Serra de Collserola i de les reserves naturals parcials de la Font Groga i de la Rierada-Can Balasc
/ref> It is one of the largest metropolitan parks in the world - 8 times larger than the Bois de Boulogne
The Bois de Boulogne (, "Boulogne woodland") is a large public park that is the western half of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, near the suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt and Neuilly-sur-Seine. The land was ceded to the city of Paris by the Em ...
in Paris, and 22 times larger than Central Park
Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...
in New York.
In the park, over a thousand major plants and around thirty plant communities have been catalogued; including forests of Aleppo pines and nut pines, evergreen oaklands, riverside copses, maquis and scrublands, brush, and savannah grasslands. This diversity allows for the existence of a rich, varied wildlife; including wild boar
The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...
, fox, genet, stone marten, badger
Badgers are medium-sized short-legged omnivores in the superfamily Musteloidea. Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by their squat bodies and adaptions for fossorial activity rather than by the ...
, rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...
, and squirrel
Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae (), a family that includes small or medium-sized rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrel ...
; blue tits, whitethroats, treecreepers
The treecreepers are a family (biology), family, Certhiidae, of small passerine Aves, birds, widespread in wooded regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The family contains nine species in one genus, ''Certhia''. Their plumage is dull-coloured. As t ...
, woodpeckers
Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and the extreme polar regions. ...
, bee eaters, doves
Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...
, goshawks, sparrowhawk
Sparrowhawk (sometimes sparrow hawk) may refer to several species of small hawk in the subfamily Accipitrinae
The Accipitrinae are the Family (biology), subfamily of the Accipitridae often known as the "true" hawks. The subfamily contains 73 s ...
, and rat-catching eagles; salamanders
Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All t ...
, newts
A newt is a salamander in the subfamily Pleurodelinae. The terrestrial juvenile phase is called an eft. Unlike other members of the family Salamandridae, newts are semiaquatic, alternating between aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Not all aqua ...
, green tree frog, the small southern frog, toads, the small spotted toad, the Mediterranean turtle, the giant turtle, the ocellated lizard, snakes, and so on.
On the Vilana hill, of 445 m, stands the Torre de Collserola (Collserola Tower), a telecommunications tower built in 1992 for the use of Olympic games. It is 288.4 m and was built by the British architect Sir Norman Foster.
The Collserola Park is used extensively by the inhabitants of Barcelona and the other towns that border it. It is popular for walking, cycling and birdwatching. There are numerous restaurants where families go during the weekends. A path that follows the ridge of the Serra, known as the "Carretera de les Aigües" (Water Road), has been extensively improved for cyclists. The Barcelona city plan intends to include it in a cycle track that completely circles the city.
References
External links
Parc de Collserola
{{Authority control
Geography of Barcelona
Collserola