On the night of Saturday, November 30, the “Rose of the North” Walk was held, as every year, to commemorate the passage of a group of fugitives through the Pyrenees who entered Andorra on the night of December 1 to 2, 1937. Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer was on this expedition, along with 23 other people.

With this Walk we want to remember the passage of thousands of people persecuted by totalitarian ideologies during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) and the Second World War (1942-1945). These ideologies imposed terror on a good number of people who were forced to flee at night, crossing rivers and mountains, to regain the freedom that was denied to them in their countries of origin. The fugitives usually went with little clothing, bad shoes, little food, experiencing extreme cold and fatigue.

That is why this Walk is done at night, without supplies and in self-sufficiency to show what those expeditions through the Pyrenees to achieve freedom could be like.

The Walk began at the Golf d’Aravell and ended at the Sant Julià de Lòria Sports Center. It is a 22 km route with a positive elevation gain of 1,600 meters. This year it took almost 8 hours to complete the entire route, and there were 3 abandonments due to fatigue.

 

 

 

The organization was carried out by the Association of Friends of the Pallerols Path from Rialb to Andorra, with the collaboration of the Comú de Sant Julià de Lòria, and with the invaluable collaboration of Ester de Cal Sona, from Les Pardines (Fontaneda), who gives us magnificent refreshments when we pass in front of her house.

Between walkers, companions and volunteers, we will gather 43 people.

The walkers were:

From Barcelona, ​​the brothers Jordi and Lourdes

A group of 4 friends: Ricard, Chema, Miquel and Arturo

Ricardo with his daughter Sonsoles.

A group of 4 friends came from Andorra: Patrícia, Nuris, Sole and Bàrbara.

From Albacete: Francisco and Ginés.

From the province of Lleida a group of 5 people named “Ultra Camina”: Noemí, Joan, Nacho, Yolanda and Ramon.

The guide was Rubèn Garcia, an expert on this path.

And as Volunteers we had: Toni, Jordi, Ramon, Octavio, Míriam with her family from Andorra la Vella, Ester with her family from Escaldes-Engordany and the couple Joan and Encarna from Sant Julià de Lòria.

To reach Sant Julià de Lòria we had to overcome the Collada de la Torre and the Coll de la Cabra Morta

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upon arriving at the Pardines house we were able to warm ourselves up with the fire that Ester had prepared for us and drink a hot broth that revived us.

 

 

When we arrived at the Sant Julià de Lòria sports center we had a good hot chocolate.

 

 

 

Note.- Next year there will be -in addition to the Walk- the “Rosa del Nord” Race. The Walk is held every year and the race every 2 years. We will let you know in time so you can register.