Dimensions of the estates

The country estates of “Castell de Santiga” and “Can Fado Vell” are located in areas of high environmental value. Both estates are in an agro-forestry corridor of great scenic interest, which enjoys a formal degree of protection by the Catalan authorities. 

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The river courses, the variety of vegetation and the composition of the mosaic of agricultural and forestry areas confers a paramount ecological importance to this area. 

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The estates have two main water streams. Flowing from South-east to North-west all across both estates, the Santiga river is considered a water sanctuary because of the abundance of water in an area so close to the city of Barcelona. The second water stream, the Torrent dels Morts -a tributary of Santiga river- flows from East to West of “Castell de Santiga” and springs in the Can Trabal forest at the heart of the estate.

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Heterogeneous landscapes are rich from the point of view of biodiversity because they give shelter to various species, especially birdlife such as the green woodpecker, bees or woodlark, and insects such as queen butterflies and dragonflies. Also, every year you can see several families of boars crossing the estates looking for new food in the mountain of St. Lawrence, and they are not the only mammals that do that.

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The diversity of habitats in remarkable and it is closely linked to Santiga’s great botanical diversity. The changing landscape and the presence microclimates such as river valleys fosters a diversity of plants much bigger than if we were in the typical Mediterranean forest.

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The estates have to two remarkable habitats: Mediterranean –with abundance of oaks and white pines-, and the fluvial terrace –with its poplars, elms and abeles-.

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The majority of the land in the estates is nowadays dedicated to agriculture, growing from cereals to fruits and vegetables.