The two large mountain ranges of El Cadí and El Moixeró, joined by the Tancalaporta hill, form an impressive mountain barrier at the junction between the PrePyrenees and the Pyrenees.
It is in this area where the Cádí-Moixeró Natural Park is home to, besides a great biodiversity, places of special beauty and appeal.
The need to protect the area of the Serra del Cadí was first mooted in the regional planning documents drawn up in 1932 by the Generalitat (Catalan government) during the Republican period.
Many years later, in 1963, the idea was reconsidered in the Barcelona Provincial Plan whose aim was to create a series of protected areas.
In 1966 a law was passed that established the Cadí National Hunting Reserve, which includes today not only the Natural Park but also the mountains of Serra del Verd and Port del Comte.
This law, still on the statue books, regulates hunting in the area, which has become an important source of income for the towns and villages in the Natural Park.
Another protected area lying within the Natural Park is the Pedraforca Natural Site of National Interest, which also includes the Gresolet valley.
Finally, the Cadí-Moixeró Natural Park was formally created on July 15 1983 with the passing by the Catalan Parliament of Decree 353/1983.
On a European level, in September 1987 the Natural Park was declared a SPA (Special Protection Area for Birds) in accordance with European Council Directive 79/409/EEC.
On 22 December 2003, via a Commission Decision, the inclusion of the Natural Park as part of the Alpine region of the Natura 2000 Network was approved given that it has more habitats and species of flora and fauna of Community Interest – as defined by the EU’s Habitat Directory – than any other Catalan protected area.
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