Valle de Arán (Vall d'Arán)

The Valle de Arán, in which the source streams of the Garonne (Spanish Garona) rise, is a valley of great natural beauty, with endless scope for walks and climbs in magnificent scenery, good fishing in the mountain streams and two skiing resorts, Vaqueira-Beret and Tuca-Betrén. The people of the valley still speak Aranese, a Romance dialect related to Gascon - demonstrating the valley's racial and geographical affinity with France and also its many Centuries of isolation, which came to an end only with the construction of a road over the pass in 1925 and the Viella tunnel in 1948. The valley has been part of Spain since 1308.