Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Park

The Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Park is a natural park area covering a Holocene volcanic field in Catalonia, northeastern Spain. The volcanos, of which there are about forty within the park, are no longer active, with the last eruption occurring about 11,000 years ago. However, the region is still seismically active, and a large earthquake in 1428 caused damage to buildings and twenty deaths in Barcelona, 90km to the south. More recent earthquakes in 1901 and 1902 caused shaking but little damage.The park covers 12,093.02 hectares, and includes territory from eleven municipalities in the comarca of Garrotxa. The built-up areas of Olot, Santa Pau, Sant Joan les Fonts and Castellfollit de la Roca are completely surrounded by the park. Including these urban areas, the population of the park is more than 40,000 people, and the economic development of the zone is one of the objectives of the park management, while trying to avoid the damage caused by quarrying, urban sprawl and illegal waste disposal. Some 980.86 ha of the park, including the best preserved volcanic cones, are fully protected as nature reserves.