The Spanish Pyrenees were a popular British budget destination a decade ago, but then Andorra and eastern Europe succeeded in capturing much of the Spanish trade. It’s easy to see why. The mass-market resorts often struggled for snow and, even when conditions were good, there was a tendency for high winds to close the lifts. Although prices were low, they were lower elsewhere, and Spain also gained a reputation for poor hotels, ancient equipment and so on.
But it’s dangerous to generalise about Spanish resorts. There is more to the country than its downmarket image suggests. There are now some well-equipped Pyrenean resorts with fine, snowsure slopes that compare favourably with mid-sized places in the Alps. Two resorts are certainly not downmarket Sierra Nevada and Baqueira-Beret are both frequented by the king of Spain. Winter sports are becoming more popular with the prosperous Spanish themselves, and as a result many of the smaller resorts are continually improving.
Furthermore, the general ambience of Spanish resorts is attractive not unlike that of Italy. There’s plenty of animation, with eating, posing and partying taken seriously. Large families often lunch together, creating much merriment while huge amounts of food are consumed. Dinner starts late after such a blow-out so, in turn, nightlife doesn’t get going before many a British punter has retired, disgruntled at the lack of action.
Sierra Nevada (2100m) formerly known as Sol y Nieve in the extreme south of Spain suffers from extremely unpredictable weather conditions. The much-feted 1995 World Championships had to be cancelled at the eleventh hour due to a lack of snow-cover, and high temperatures rendering the resort’s state-of-the-art snowmaking installation useless (fortunately better conditions permitted them to take place in 1996). The resort’s natural snow arrives via completely different weather patterns from those supplying the Alps and Pyrenees; in 1990, when the Alps were disastrously snowless, Sierra Nevada had the best conditions in Europe. The mostly intermediate slopes are very exposed to the elements. When the wind blows, as it does, the slopes close, and the strong sun makes the pistes either icy or soft in late season. On a good day, however, visitors are treated to a fantastic view from the top of the highest point at Veleta, across the Med, to the Atlas mountains in Morocco. The resort is very ugly but user-friendly, and its restaurants, bars and shops are nicely gathered around a central square. Granada’s proximity means good outings but overcrowding at weekends and holidays. Hotels are comfortable and good value, and appear in a handful of UK tour operator brochures.
Baqueira-Beret (1500m) is the best of the Pyrenean resorts a user-friendly place with high-standard accommodation, modern lifts and a sizeable, fairly snowsure area (see following page for a full report).
Candanchu/Astun (1500m), with 88km of piste, is probably the biggest resort you have never heard of. With a wide range of accommodation set in some of the Pyrenees’ most stunning scenery, and a local reputation for tough runs, a visit to the area by the editors is overdue.
The smaller Pyrenean resorts are best toured by car: spend a day in each and drive to more sheltered places if the wind blows. The best-known, Formigal, appears in a couple of tour operator brochures and is working hard to improve its standing as a winter resort. Last season saw a fair bit of expansion and a number of lift improvements. It has a good ski school but is windswept. Our favourite is nearby Panticosa, a charming old village with sheltered but limited slopes that have recently doubled in size to 34km of pistes (the lift network has also been improved). La Molina has a sizeable set of slopes. It’s an old place, but preferable to its purpose-built satellite, Supermolina, and Masella over the mountain.
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