Belagua Refuge will reopen thanks to a cross-border project

The project, led by the Community of Work of the Pyrenees, in addition to refurbishing the Angel Oloron Refuge - better known as the Shelter of Belagua-, will improve the nearby paths and the L' Abérouat refuge. It is expected to be completed by 2019.

The inclement climate of the area (snow, wind and sun), coupled with the fact that it has been closed for more than a decade, have increased its deterioration and it is now in a state of semi-ruin.

But this reality will soon change due to a project of the Pyrenees Working Community, which will restore the shine to this emblematic mountain refuge. The injection of money amounts to 2.2 million euros destined to the rehabilitation of the Navarre refuge of Belagua.

The project is the result of an agreement signed between the Navarre Federation of Mountain Sports and Climbing, the Junta, the Government of Navarre, with the support of the Belarouat Cross-border Cooperation Plan.

A comprehensive work

The main goal of the project is to add value to the environment of the Pic d'Anie, as well as to promote collaboration between the mountain refuges on both sides of the border: Belagua and L'Abérouat.

This item also included the upgrading of the existing trails or paths at both ends of the border, in order to provide a better experience for visitors and mountaineers, as well as to promote more tourism in the area.

The Pyrenees Working Community also seeks to promote knowledge of the mountains and mountaineering, through various activities whose main aim is to educate young people and schoolchildren to enjoy the experience of being in contact with nature and to disconnect a little from technology.

History of the Belagua Refuge

The initiative to build a mountain refuge in Navarre was detected in 1947. The announcement was made in a bulletin of the Navarra Sports Club in that year and spread rapidly.

It was not until 1964 that work began on the project and it was not until 1971 that the desire to have a "house in the mountains" crystallised.

Since the 1970s, the Angel Oloron Refuge has been a reference point for connoisseurs because it has become a point of reference in the area.

This special site offered shelter and information to those who had nowhere else to rest or required security assistance.

In the Pyrenees of Aragon, Andorra and Catanluya there are networks of refuges that are interlinked by different types of paths. In fact, the neighbouring country, France, also has several refuges to provide assistance to mountaineers.

However -without explanation- the Belagua Refuge closed its doors five decades after its inauguration in 2003 and left a void for those sportsmen and women who visit the area.

Thanks to this cross-border project, the Belagua Refuge will be reopened and the lack of rest areas in the area will come to an end. Navarrese PyreneesIt is also a great work to increase tourism in the area.