4 circular routes through Graugés, in Avià

Route1: Graugés - Avià - Graugés

Distance 25.06 km, approximate time 1 hour and 12 minutes.

Route 2: Tour of the two lakes

Distance 2.72 km, approximate time 33 minutes.

Route 3: Tour of Graugés

Distance 10.3 km, approximate time 37 minutes.

Route 4: Graugés - Sant Vicenç d'Obiols - Graugés

Approximate time 1 hour and 18 minutes.

A little history of Graugés

At the end of the 19th century, Avià experienced two ambitious attempts to modernize agriculture and livestock in Catalonia. First, José Blanxart y Grau launched a short-lived agricultural exploitation project on the La Riereta estate, where he wanted to implement very progressive experimental farming systems. But the main architect of the transformation of the field was Agustí Rosal i Sala who, together with his brother Antoni, applied his engineering knowledge to establish the first agricultural colony in the country.

Graugés increased agricultural and livestock production with more efficient measures that allowed obtaining more profits: introduction of new plant and animal species, production of food products, technological innovation, use of electricity in agriculture and specialization of work and territory, which were the pillars of the colony.

Large areas of agricultural land were intensively exploited with a rotary system so that the fields did not stop bearing fruit, with plantations as diverse as wheat, fodder, vegetables or fruit trees. Agriculture was complemented by livestock activity, which provided the necessary manure to fertilize the fields. The numerous cattle (sheep, cows, pigs and chickens) provided the colony with meat, milk, eggs and the raw material to make other products.

Graugés had an irrigation system with ponds, ponds and canals built by the Rosal family to supply the fields. The large pond supplied the water through an important system of pipes and pumps that saved the unevenness of the terrain. For this reason, the neighborhood was equipped with electricity from the Rosal neighborhood, which also allowed the facilities to be illuminated.

The buildings were strategically distributed, interconnected by roads, highways, and even a railroad, all built by the Rosals. The tower of the master, the administrative building, the stables and the warehouses made up the center of the colony, while the workers and their families stayed in the streets Vieja, del Medio and Nueva, having private homes and orchards. The colony was self-sufficient and had basic services such as the school, the church, the store, the oven and the mill, in a system of paternalistic control of the colonists, inspired by Catholic social doctrine.

The colony of Graugés was in operation for just over twenty years and had such an impact that it received a visit from King Alfonso XIII, who distinguished the Rosal brothers with the Great Cross of Agricultural Merit.

Source: Avià City Council