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23-456: Garrigues ( Western Catalan: [ɡaˈriɣes] ) is a comarca (county) in Ponent , Catalonia , Spain . Its capital is Les Borges Blanques . Its symbol (on the flag and shield in the right panel) is an olive branch, Garrigues being the center of olive cultivation (most of it without the necessity of irrigation) in all of Catalonia. The cave paintings at Roca dels Moros , El Cogul , are

46-658: A comarca but a "unique territorial entity" with additional powers. Its current status was formalised in February 2015. Revisions to the comarques took place in 1988 (creation of Pla d'Estany, Pla d'Urgell, and Alta Ribagorça), 1990 (various adjustments), and May 2015 (creation of Moianès). The Catalan government 's "Report on the revision of Catalonia's territorial organisation model" (the Roca Report  [ ca ] ), published in 2000, recommends many more changes to comarques, which have not yet been adopted except for

69-615: A different native language. While Aranese is the mother tongue of 62.87% of people born in the region, it is less frequent among residents born outside the valley. In 1313, James II of Aragon granted administrative and political autonomy to the Aran Valley, the legal details of which are described in a Latin manuscript called the Querimonia . The devolution of power was a reward for the Aranese pledging allegiance to James II in

92-510: A dispute with the kingdoms of France and Mallorca over control of the valley. This status was suppressed in 1834, when the Valley was integrated into the new Province of Lleida, in the context of the establishment of the Spanish provinces at the beginning of the liberal state. On 19 October 1944, Spanish Communist Party guerrillas invaded the valley in an attempt to bring about the fall of

115-718: A majority of municipalities of the Lluçanès region of Osona voted to join a proposed new comarca of that name. It was finally added to the list of Comarques on the 3rd of May 2023. There are six comarques which are often referred to as the historical comarques of Catalonia , because their present-day territory was a part of the former Principality of Catalonia , but nowadays they lie in Northern Catalonia , administered by France . Val d%27Aran Aran ( Occitan: [aˈɾan] ; Catalan: [əˈɾan] ; Spanish: [aˈɾan] ) (often known as

138-449: A particular comarca in the same way that people in other parts of the world might identify with a particular region. In some cases, comarques consist of rural areas and many small villages centring on an important town, where the people of the region traditionally go to shop or to sell their goods. This is the case of comarques such as the Pla de l'Estany , centred on the town of Banyoles , or

161-608: A representative county council (Catalan: consell comarcal ), except for Barcelonès , which abolished it in 2019, and Aran, which instead has the Conselh Generau d'Aran . Comarques form the second-level administrative division within Catalonia, being a subdivision of vegueries (or provinces at state level). Although today the comarques are officially defined under a Catalan parliamentary act, for centuries they had existed unofficially, with citizens identifying with

184-492: A result, some revisions to the official division have been made, such as the additions of Moianès and Lluçanès to the map, in 2015 and 2023 respectively. Comarques exist as a local government area, and have a representative county council . They are often known as counties in the English language, but this can be confused with the counties that were ruled by counts . Borders of comarques generally do not cross those of

207-799: The Aran Valley , or Val d'Aran in Aranese Occitan ; in other forms of Occitan: Vath d'Aran or Vau d'Aran , in Catalan: Vall d'Aran , in Spanish: Valle de Arán ) is an autonomous administrative entity (formerly considered a comarca ) in northwest Catalonia , Spain , consisting of 620.47 square kilometres (239.56 sq mi) in area, located in the Pyrenees mountains, in the Alt Pirineu i Aran region and in

230-654: The Catalan independence movement due to lack of a strong Catalan identity. Aranese is the standardized form of the local Gascon variety of the Occitan language . Aranese has been regularly taught at school since 1984. Like several other minority languages in Europe that recently faced decline, Aranese is experiencing a renaissance. The name Aran comes from Basque haran , meaning valley. Maps and road signs in Spain use

253-576: The Ripollès , centred on the town of Ripoll . In other cases, comarques are larger areas with many important population centres that have traditionally been considered part of the same region, as in the case of the Empordà or Vallès . The current official division of Catalonia into comarques originates in an order of the autonomous Catalan government under the Spanish Republic in 1936. It

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276-537: The province of Lleida . The capital is Vielha e Mijaran . This valley constitutes the only contiguous part of Catalonia located on the northern side of the Pyrenees. Hence, this valley holds the only Catalan rivers to flow into the Atlantic Ocean (for the same reason, the region is characterized by an Atlantic climate, instead of a Mediterranean one). The Garonne river flows through Aran from its source on

299-484: The 2015 creation of Moianès. The other proposed new comarques are: Vall de Camprodon  [ ca ] (capital at Camprodon ), Selva Marítima  [ ca ] (capital at Blanes ), Alta Segarra  [ ca ] (capital at Calaf ), Segre Mitjà  [ ca ] (capital at Ponts ), and Baix Llobregat Nord  [ ca ] (capital at Martorell ). In a non-binding referendum in July 2015,

322-771: The Garonne, flows the opposite way towards the Mediterranean . Aran borders France on the north, the Autonomous Community of Aragon to the west and the Catalan comarques of Alta Ribagorça to the south and Pallars Sobirà to the east. Its capital, Vielha e Mijaran, has 5,474 inhabitants (2014). The entire population of the valley is about 9,991 (2014). As of 2001, a plurality of people in Aran spoke Spanish (38.78%) as their native language, followed by Aranese (34.19%), then Catalan (19.45%) with 7.56% having

345-659: The Pla de Beret (Beret Flat) near the Port de la Bonaigua . It is joined by the Joèu river (from the slopes of Aneto mountain ) which passes underground at the Forau d'Aigualluts . It then reappears in the Val dera Artiga de Lin before reaching the Aran valley, then through France and eventually to the Atlantic Ocean . The Noguera Pallaresa river, whose source is only a hundred meters from that of

368-454: The Spanish dictatorship . They took control of several villages until October 27, 1944, but were forced to retreat back into France after Franco sent reinforcements to defend Vielha. Before the construction of the Vielha tunnel , opened in 1948, the Aran valley had no direct communication with the south side of the mountains during winter. In 1987 it became an administrative comarca. In 1990

391-709: The divisions dates from the 15th century. Since 1991, Aran has an autonomous government called the Conselh Generau d'Aran ( Occitan : General Council of Aran ), headed by the Síndic d'Aran . The major political parties are the Unity of Aran - Aranese Nationalist Party (the local chapter of the Socialists' Party of Catalonia ), the Aranese Democratic Convergence (the local chapter of

414-713: The most important vestiges of prehistoric settlement in Garrigues. A Neolithic tomb has been found at Les Borges Blanques . During the Iberian era, the comarca was settled by the Ilergetians. There is documentation also for Roman summer residences and country villas, particularly in the north, but the Roman influence died out soon after. 41°31′N 0°52′E  /  41.517°N 0.867°E  / 41.517; 0.867 Comarques of Catalonia Each comarca has

437-450: The name "era Val d'Aran" to refer to the valley, where era is the Aranese singular feminine article. The same practice goes for all towns and other locations in Aran, for example, the Aranese spelling Vielha is used instead of Catalan and Spanish Viella to refer to the capital of Aran. Basque toponyms reveal that Basque was spoken further east along the Pyrenees than today. The growing influence of Latin began to drive Basque out after

460-610: The special status of Aran within Catalonia was restored by the Parliament of Catalonia , reestablishing the Conselh Generau, granting it a degree of home rule and declaring Occitan as official language. In 2015 the Catalan Parliament passed a new law which increased the powers of the Conselh Generau and recognized Aran as an "Occitan national reality". The population of Val d'Aran has generally been opposed to

483-457: The state-level provinces ( Barcelona , Girona , Lleida , Tarragona ), since the provinces are defined by the Spanish government, while comarques are defined by the Catalan government - notably in the case of Cerdanya which is split into two between the provinces of Lleida and Girona (most other cases involve only one or two municipalities). Aran , which is included here, is officially not

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506-412: The turn of the first millennium. Administratively, Aran is a "unique territorial entity" roughly equivalent to a comarca with additional powers, and informally referred to as a comarca. This status was most recently formalised in February 2015. The area is divided into six administrative divisions called terçons (meaning "thirds", as there were formerly three divisions). The current arrangement of

529-491: Was superseded after the 1939 victory of Francisco Franco 's forces in the Spanish Civil War , but restored in 1987 by the re-established Generalitat of Catalonia . Since the definition of comarques is sometimes ambiguous, many new proposals have been made since the comarques were first officially designated as attempts to modify the official distribution with what some regions consider to be a traditional comarca. As

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