Sant Llorenç del Munt i l'Obac

Sant Llorenç del Munt i l'Obac Natural Park is formed by the massif of Sant Llorenç del Munt and the l'Obac range, two alignments of the Catalan Pre-Coastal Range that meet at the Estenalles pass, between the rivers Llobregat and Ripoll. It protects 13,694 hectares spread across twelve municipalities in the districts of Bages, Vallès Occidental and Moianès, and is managed by the Provincial Council of Barcelona within its Network of Natural Parks.

The landscape is rugged and highly characteristic: crags and monoliths of reddish conglomerate, the rock known locally as pinyolenc, formed by the deposition of pebbles and other material carried down by rivers during the Palaeogene, between 33.7 and 23.6 million years ago. That red contrasts with the green of the holm oak and pine woods that colonise the slopes, the ledges and the gullies of the mountain. The main summits are la Mola (1,104 m) and Montcau (1,057 m).

On top of la Mola stands the monumental complex of the Benedictine monastery of Sant Llorenç del Munt, of the eleventh century, which gives the massif its name and which was declared a Historic-Artistic Monument in 1931 and an Asset of National Cultural Interest; beside it lies an archaeological site, and across the rest of the park are scattered chapels, farmhouses, lime kilns and the remains of many centuries of occupation. Its history of protection is a pioneering one: on 24 July 1972 a resolution of the Ministry of Housing approved the Special Plan promoted by the Provincial Council of Barcelona over 2,655 hectares, making it the first Spanish natural park protected through planning legislation and the first promoted and managed by a local government body. The plan was revised in 1982, extending the area to 9,638 hectares; in 1987 the Generalitat formally declared it a Natural Park, and a final extension in 1998 gave it its present 13,694 hectares. At every one of those milestones the pressure of citizens' organisations was decisive.