Maçanet de Cabrenys

Maçanet de Cabrenys is a municipality in the Alt Empordà region. It is also part of the Alta Garrotxa region, without administrative rank.

The municipality is located at the foot of the eastern slope of the Sierra de Salinas (Pyrenees) that hosts a section of the GR-11 trail. There the Arnera and Rinadal rivers are born. To the south / southwest it borders the municipalities of Albanyà and Sant Llorenç de la Muga, to the east with the Vajol and Darnius and to the north with the nordcatalanes communes of Costoja, San Lorenzo de Cerdans, Reiners, the Baths of Arles and Palalda, Ceret and Morellàs and the Islands.

The church of San Martín, of the XII or XIII century, belongs to the late Romanesque. It is formed by a single rectangular nave covered by a vault with a pointed arch and by a semicircular apse covered by an almond-shaped vault. The portal is formed by a smooth cantilevered tympanum with four arches and an archivolt; the door, made of wood, is decorated with forged characteristic of the time.

The San Sebastian chapel was built after the outbreak of the plague at the end of the 16th century, through popular contributions. The current chapel corresponds to a reform of the s. XVIII.

The sanctuary of the Virgen de las Salinas is under the mountain of this name, at 1,100 meters of altitude and 15 kilometers from the urban center. It was built in 1271 and reformed in the 18th century, respecting the Romanesque style. It is known, but, since 954.

In 1834 the club of Rotllà, the Carolingian hero, was placed in the middle of the square. It is a thick iron rod, more than 5 meters high, with a ring on top to hang a lamp that is no longer. They made it in the old foundry that was next to the Arnera. According to the legend, one day Rotllà threw it from the bridge of Ceret; according to others, from the castle of Cabrenys, in Serrallonga (Vallespir). While pulling it, he said: "Where my club will fall, Maçanet de Cabrenys will be".

There had been textile and iron industry, and surotaperes factories, but at the moment the main source of economic income of the municipality is the tourism, along with the construction. There is a great offer of restaurants. The water from the Fuente de las Cruces, which currently belongs to the Vichy Catalán group, is bottled. There was a big pipe factory. Now there is some small workshop.

It enjoys a great amount of forest mass since it is the second municipality with more end of all the region. The various rivers that pass through the length of the entire municipal area make a lot of well-used pools in times of heat, Macanet de Cabrenys is also well known for the various mountain sports that are practiced such as mountain biking, hiking, running among others.

In Maçanet de Cabrenys the celebrations are celebrated on the first Sunday of July and on November 11, the patron's day, San Martín. The first Sunday of August is the meeting of the Salinas, in the sanctuary above the mountain. The first Sunday after San Isidro there is a popular paella in the same place.