A forest full of mine entrances, silos and cables
On the northern slope of the Serra de Catllaràs, among pines and beeches, more than a century of industry lies hidden: mine entrances, shafts, silos, cableway bases and roofless buildings.
All of it was built for a single purpose: to get coal out of the mountain and down to the kilns of the Asland cement works at Clot del Moro. For some twenty years the Catllaràs was criss-crossed by aerial cables, wagon tracks and galleries that connected with one another. Then the activity stopped and the forest slowly swallowed everything.
This page covers the ten points I have located and photographed on my trips into the range, nearly always in the Defender as far as a meadow and then on foot. For each one I explain where to leave the car, which way to go down and what is still standing. Some are easy; others mean going down faint paths and having a lot of patience to make out the ruins among the vegetation.
Safety warning: never go into the mine entrances or the galleries. They have been abandoned for a century, the Diputació de Barcelona heritage records report rockfalls inside several of them, and some have water and mud on the floor. Do not lean over the shafts either: even when they are covered with a vault or a grille, there are openings. Everything can be seen perfectly well from outside.
Walked, measured and photographed by Josep Heras Gomis, who has a house at the masia del Pati in Borredà and explores the Catllaràs every season. The points are part of his routes published on Wikiloc: Serra de Catllaràs, from Castell de l'Areny to Sant Jaume de Frontanyà and La Pobla de Lillet, Fonts del Llobregat and Serra de Catllaràs. The historical data come from the records of the Mapes de Patrimoni Cultural of the Diputació de Barcelona. Last revised: September 2026.
From the Catllaràs to Clot del Moro: coal to make cement
At the beginning of the twentieth century Eusebi Güell founded the Compañía General de Asfaltos y Portland, better known as Asland, and built at Clot del Moro, near the springs of the Llobregat, the first Portland cement works in Catalonia. Today it is the Asland Cement Museum. The kilns needed fuel, and the fuel came from here: Asland bought and worked a large share of the Catllaràs coal mines.
The problem was transport. The mines lay at more than 1,300 metres, far from the valley and with no reliable means of transport. The answer was a network of aerial cableways built by the firm Carsten & Fabian. At first the coal was brought down by mule to the Mina del Cable; in 1907 the general cableway came into service, known simply as el cable, 2,013 metres long with a drop of 444 metres, carrying it to the Empalme station beside the railway. Two more cableways followed inside the range: the Teixó line in 1910 and the Roca de la Lluna line in 1912.
At the Empalme the coal was stored in bunkers and transferred to the wagons of the narrow-gauge line that climbed up to the works. That same narrow-gauge track is the one the Tren del Ciment runs on today as a tourist train. According to the heritage records, Asland kept up mining activity in the Catllaràs until 1922.
The ten points, from Prat Gespador to the Xalet
| Point | What it is | Condition | Coordinates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instal·lacions de la Mina del Moreno | Chimney of 1908, shaft and cableway bases | Chimney standing, shaft covered | 42.214739, 1.957488 |
| Mina de la Font Freda | Mine opened by Asland in 1911 | Remains barely recognisable | 42.217836, 1.960659 |
| Mina del Moreno | Mine worked from 1908 to 1920 | Entrance open, with rockfalls | 42.216995, 1.957861 |
| Telefèric de la Mina del Moreno | Two-level loading silo | Standing, among the vegetation | 42.217277, 1.957926 |
| Mina del Teixó | Mine and workshops, 1900-1922 | Vaulted entrance, scattered ruins | 42.218921, 1.958095 |
| Sala de Màquines | Shaft, cableway and steam engine | Pillars and walls | 42.219090, 1.964063 |
| Mina del Xalet | Mine beside the Xalet | Only a hollow in the ground | 42.223258, 1.969034 |
| Mina del Cable | Station of the general cableway | The largest group of ruins | 42.224933, 1.969173 |
| Mina d'Arderiu | Concrete gallery, 1908 | Entrance open, with water | 42.221187, 1.971784 |
| Pou de la Mina d'Arderiu | Winding shaft, 1906-1917 | Covered with a grille | 42.220933, 1.971482 |
The order follows the route: first the Moreno and Teixó sector, on foot from Prat Gespador along the PR-C 11 path, and then the Xalet sector, reached by car along the track. All the points are in the municipality of La Pobla de Lillet. Three of them (Mina del Moreno, Mina del Teixó and Sala de Màquines) have no altitude recorded on the GPS and are given with latitude and longitude only.
Instal·lacions de la Mina del Moreno
This is the first stop and the one that best explains how the whole system worked. In the Prat de les Vaques, above the mine, a solid brick chimney survives, together with a shaft and the bases of the pylons of the cableway that ran down to the entrance.
The chimney, dating from 1908, is square in section and narrows in steps as it rises; the top stretch is built with a different brick. It carried the smoke of the steam engine that drove the cableway, and the same engine may also have been used to raise and lower material in the shaft. The shaft is deep and is now covered by a stone and cement vault to prevent accidents, although a hole remains: keep away from the edge. Of the two cableway bases, one stands next to the other structures and the other about 35 to 40 metres away.
The whole site belonged to Asland, which worked it from 1906 to 1920.
Getting there: drive along the track to Prat Gespador, a wide meadow where you can park (42.212139, 1.955286). Right opposite, beside the track, is the Font del Prat Gespador. From the meadow go up, skirting the rock on the left, and at the end of the meadow take the waymarked PR-C 11 path, which leads straight to the remains.
Coordinates: 42.214739, 1.957488 · 1,503 m above sea level · open in map
Mina de la Font Freda
This is the most battered of them all. I have only found remains of buildings and heaps of stones among the trees, without being able to make out much of what it once was. It is worth passing by because it is on the same path, but do not expect a visible mine entrance.
Asland opened it in 1911 and closed it in 1922, together with the rest of the workings the company had in the Catllaràs. It played a part in the transport network: the cableway coming from the Teixó ended next to this mine, where its coal was also collected before continuing on its way.
Getting there: from the Moreno installations carry on northwards along the PR-C 11, which passes right by the remains.
Coordinates: 42.217836, 1.960659 · 1,408 m above sea level · open in map
Mina del Moreno
The entrance is a hole cut straight into the rock, some two metres wide by two metres high. From outside you can still see on the gallery floor the wooden sleepers the wagons ran on, half-rotten and covered with branches.
Its length is unknown, as is whether it branches into several galleries, but it must have been long: it was one of the mines that produced the most coal. According to the Diputació de Barcelona record, it was worked from 1908 to 1920 and the gallery has rockfalls. It is a good example of why you should not go in: it can be seen perfectly well from the entrance.
Getting there: a few metres below the Font Freda, following the PR-C 11, the entrance appears on the left of the path.
Coordinates: 42.216995, 1.957861 · open in map
Telefèric de la Mina del Moreno
What you find here is not the cableway itself but its loading station: a tall, square building of stone and cement that worked as a large two-storey silo. Among the trees its height is striking.
At the top there was a large hopper where the wagons coming out of the gallery were tipped. They arrived along a track whose final stretch ran on pillars, with a walkway above. Below, under a shuttered concrete vault with an opening in the middle, the coal dropped into the buckets hanging from the cable.
From here the coal went down to the Teixó and, from there, followed a convoluted route: in and out of galleries, along outdoor tracks, through shafts and onto other cableways, until it reached the station of the general cableway. It is the best way to understand that all these mines formed a single system.
Getting there: follow the PR-C 11 south-westwards; the silo is on the right of the path.
Coordinates: 42.217277, 1.957926 · 1,380 m above sea level · open in map
Mina del Teixó
This is one of the most important mines in the Catllaràs, for the years it was in operation, for the coal it yielded and for one particular feature: it was connected underground with the Mina del Cable, so you could go in through one entrance and come out through another. Antoni Planas i Oliver started it in 1900; in 1904 it passed to Asland, which worked it until 1922.
The remains are spread along both sides of a torrent, at the same level, linked by a small bridge from the mining period that the wagons crossed. To the east is the entrance: a large opening with a barrel vault of shuttered concrete and stone, which runs a few metres inwards and then continues cut into the rock. Across the torrent there is a small building that was probably the transformer house, remains of workshops and stores, a large tank and, a little further on, what looks like a powder magazine. A few metres below the entrance, slightly to the east, are the ruins of the Teixó house.
The Teixó cableway started here, built in 1910, 200 metres long with a 65-metre drop. Further on, from the Roca de la Lluna, another cableway of 1912, 600 metres long with a 180-metre drop, connected with the general cableway. The heritage record states that the gallery has rockfalls and that the outdoor structures are collapsing: look from outside.
Getting there: from the Mina del Moreno entrance leave the PR-C 11 and head down northwards, more or less in a straight line below the cableway silo. The path is poor and quite steep, but it can be done without trouble in mountain footwear. At the bottom the ruins appear, among them the lower end of the cableway you saw above.
Coordinates: 42.218921, 1.958095 · open in map
Sala de Màquines
This was the hub of the network. Traces remain of a shaft, a cableway and an old steam engine that drove the cables. What stands out today are masonry pillars and stretches of wall in the middle of the forest.
The loaded wagons from the Font Freda, the Teixó and the Moreno arrived at this point. From here they went on to the Mina del Cable, to the north, where they joined the longest cableway, the one that ran down to the Empalme, the last stop before the Clot del Moro works. The shaft at the Sala de Màquines is probably the one through which the Teixó coal came back to the surface after running along a gallery.
Getting there: it lies about 375 metres in a straight line south of the Roca de la Lluna viewpoint. It is the stretch I have documented least; it is a good idea to have the track loaded to find it.
Coordinates: 42.219090, 1.964063 · open in map
Mina del Xalet
This point takes you into the second sector, around the Xalet del Catllaràs, the house Güell commissioned from Gaudí to lodge the mine technicians.
The entrance of the mine has not survived. In its place there is a large hollow where the ground gave way and, around it, a few remains of walls, probably of an ancillary building such as a workshop or store. It is a quiet spot, a clearing surrounded by pines, and only if you know what it was does the shape of the ground make sense.
Getting there: it lies a little further from the Xalet than the spring, to the south-west. Leave the car at the Xalet and walk there in a few minutes.
Coordinates: 42.223258, 1.969034 · 1,370 m above sea level · open in map
Mina del Cable
This is probably the area with the most ruins in the whole Catllaràs: a group of abandoned buildings, a small mine and remains of the cableway, all heavily overgrown. The amount of remains says a lot about how important it was, because the starting station of the general cableway stood here.
When that cableway was built, coal from the other mines was brought here by pack animals; later, much of it arrived along the other cableways. From this point the general cableway, opened in 1907, ran for 2,013 metres and dropped 444 metres to the Empalme station, on the railway that came up from Guardiola de Berguedà. According to the sources, the cableway network and the arrival of the railway are what made profitable a group of mines that, without transport, were not. They were worked until early 1922.
Getting there: it is about 100 metres behind the Xalet. Drive down the track from the Xalet and stop right in front of the marked point. From there head downhill towards the cliff edge: you will make out a small path, hard to find at first, which then levels out. Go all the way down and the buildings appear.
Coordinates: 42.224933, 1.969173 · 1,295 m above sea level · open in map
Mina d'Arderiu and its shaft
It is a small opening through which you can see a stretch of gallery that turns at the far end. Everything visible is built with a barrel vault of shuttered concrete. The floor is covered with earth and debris that has washed in, and with water too: one more reason to stay outside.
A few metres away is the Pou de la Mina d'Arderiu, one of the winding shafts. It is circular, rises above ground level and has a considerable diameter. Today it is covered by a grille that lets you look inside safely. On the west side it has an access opening, also walled up, through which the baskets of ore were probably taken out, and on the opposite side a small square tank built against it. Other walls remain around it. The shaft was in use between 1906 and 1917 and was later connected with the mine entrance, begun in 1908. The coal was hoisted up the shaft in a large basket with the help of a pulley; then, in wagons, it went to a bunker and from there to the station of the general cableway.
Getting there: from the Xalet follow the same track for about 300 metres to a junction. You can leave the car at the junction. A few metres along the left-hand track, the one that goes down towards the Ardericó refuge, is the entrance. For the shaft, just to the left of the entrance a path climbs about 30 metres up the slope.
Coordinates: Mina d'Arderiu 42.221187, 1.971784 · 1,414 m · map — Pou de la Mina d'Arderiu 42.220933, 1.971482 · 1,419 m · map
How to organise it and where to stay
The most practical approach is to split it in two. The Moreno, Font Freda and Teixó sector is done on foot from Prat Gespador along the PR-C 11 and needs mountain footwear, especially the descent to the Teixó. The Xalet sector is done by car along the track, stopping at each point; from there it is also a few minutes' climb to the Roca de la Lluna viewpoint. Turisme del Berguedà also publishes a waymarked walking route of the Catllaràs mines starting from the Falgars sanctuary.
The track is usually in good condition, but depending on the season it may be wet and some stretches become tricky in a car not prepared for the mountains. In winter there may be snow or ice on the higher, shady parts. And once again: look at everything from outside, without going into the galleries or leaning over the shafts.
To complete the story, the obvious next step is to go down to Clot del Moro to see the works all this coal was destined for and to ride the Tren del Ciment.
Our three places to stay in La Pobla de Lillet are at the foot of the range, are let whole and take pets at no extra cost:
- Tríplex Cadí: 150 m² on three floors, 5 bedrooms, a fireplace and a wood-fired range.
- Catllaràs Apartment: for 4 people, with 2 bedrooms.
- Adapted apartment: prepared for guests with reduced mobility.
Frequently asked questions about the Catllaràs mines
Why was coal mined in the Catllaràs?
To fuel the kilns of the Asland cement works at Clot del Moro, founded by Eusebi Güell. Asland worked a large share of the mines in the range and set up a network of aerial cableways to bring the coal down to the railway.
Can you go inside the mines?
No. They have been abandoned for a century, the Diputació de Barcelona heritage records report rockfalls inside, and some galleries hold water. The entrances, shafts and ruins can be seen well from outside, and the shafts should not be walked round or stepped on even when covered.
Until when were they worked?
According to the heritage records, Asland kept up activity in the Catllaràs until 1922. The Mina del Teixó, the oldest of those described here, had been started in 1900 by Antoni Planas i Oliver and passed to Asland in 1904.
How did the coal reach the works?
Through a combination of wagons, galleries, shafts and aerial cableways that converged on the Mina del Cable. From there the general cableway, 2,013 metres long and in service from 1907, brought it down to the Empalme station, where it was loaded onto the train that climbed to Clot del Moro. That line is the one used today by the Tren del Ciment.
Where do you park?
For the Moreno and Teixó sector, at Prat Gespador, and from there on foot along the PR-C 11. For the Xalet sector, the Mina del Cable and the Mina d'Arderiu, on the track itself, next to each point.
Can it be combined with the Xalet del Catllaràs?
Yes, and that is the natural thing to do. The Mina del Xalet, the Mina del Cable and the Mina d'Arderiu are a few metres from the Xalet Gaudí designed for the mine technicians, and the Roca de la Lluna viewpoint is very close.