Solana Valley (Spanish language Valle de la Solana; Aragonese language Val d'a Solana) is a valley in the Pyrenees. It is located in Aragon, Spain. River Ara cuts across the valley from east to west and its average altitude is 850 m.
History
There were many villages in Solana Valley. The inhabitants left the place between 1960 and 1970 owing to the pressure induced by
ICONA, the Spanish National Institute for Forestal recovery that had bought the land surrounding the villages.
[Menjón Ruiz, Marisancho, Jánovas, víctimas de un pantano de papel. Pirineum Editorial, Jaca, 2006. ] There were other factors as well, such as the abandonment of traditional agricultural practices like
sheep and
goat rearing, as well as the lifestyle changes that swept over rural Spain after
General Franco's
Stabilization Plan that pulled the local youth towards the cities and the coast.
[ Despoblación en Aragon ]
Most of Solana Valley's territory depends administratively from Fiscal, Sobrarbe comarca, Huesca Province.[ Diario del AltoAragón (10 d'agost del 2009) - El valle de La Solana]
Ghost towns
In Solana Valley there are numerous village churches and smaller religious buildings, such as the
Iglesia de la Asunción and the
exconjuratory in Burgasé, the
Iglesia de Santa María in Muro de Solana, Santiago Church in Villamana and Saint Peter's Church in Gere. Many of the churches are in ruins.
The villages in the valley lie abandoned and the houses have fallen into disrepair and ruin:
-
Burgasé
-
Càjol
-
Càmpol
-
Castellar
-
Gere
-
Ginuabel
-
Giral
-
Jánovas
-
Lacort
-
Lavelilla
-
Muro de Ara or Muro de Solana
-
Puyuelo
-
Sasé
-
Semolué
-
San Martín de Puytarans or San Martín de la Solana
-
Sanfelices de Solana or Sanfelices de la Ribera
-
Villamana
See also
External links
