Project

We, the inhabitants of Pallars that are dedicated to rural tourism, have discovered that:

• We must work together and pool our efforts to move in one direction, in an endeavour to offer visitors suggestions for exploring the region:
  • Hosting visitors all year round
  • Working from Monday to Friday
  • Attracting visitors from other regions
  • Offering fair rates while upholding the quality of the services available.
• The opportunity to become specialized. From experience, we know that hiking is the best option for promoting our natural and cultural heritage sustainably, since it is the tourist activity that best blends in with the environment and bears the least adverse impact. We are aware of the potential held by our land, and we are eager to continue in this direction.
• Our livelihood is provided by the land we are part of and which we love. We are therefore aware of the need for its preservation, and we wish to promote it in a responsible and sustainable manner.
• We owners wish to play a part in promoting and preserving our heritage and environment, by investing time and money therein.
• In this project, visitors also contribute towards preserving the environment, as part of their payment is directly invested in the maintenance of the network of paths.
• Also, an objective is the desire to foster ecotourism, tourism linked to local values and identity that minimizes the impact on the environment and that enables us to preserve traditions, towns and villages, paths, etc.
• The Fifth Lake complies with the standards of responsible tourism, a type of tourism that creates better places for people to live in, and better places to visit.
• We wish to give impetus to the local economy, involving as many businesses in the region as possible.
• To promote local products, both agri-foodstuffs (in the cuisine we offer) and crafts (shepherd’s crook, felt logo, etc.).
• The design of The Fifth Lake trail was accomplished thanks to the community’s wholehearted support. Villagers and townspeople (elderly men and women, livestock farmers, hunters, to name but a few) are its true architects, since it is them who have explained, shown and escorted us to see how people got around in bygone times. They have also allowed us to retrieve place names, legends, and stories that were falling into oblivion. The trail owes its content to the collaboration of writers, historians, biologists, botanists, geographers, veterinarians, etc., both locally and from the surrounding areas. Without them, The Fifth Lake would not be what it is and would have proven difficult to bring to fruition.
• Local authorities and public institutions have also lent us their support from the outset. Town and county councils, the IDAPA (Development Institute for the Alt Pirineu and Aran) and the ECA Pallars (Pallars School for Agricultural Training) have listened to us, placed their trust in us and have wholly invested in this undertaking.