Village
Alins, or Alins de Vallferrera, is a municipality of Pallars Sobirà, in Lleida province, located in the centre of the Vall Ferrera, beside the Noguera de Vallferrera, bordering Andorra to the east and France to the northeast. Besides the town of Alins, it comprises the settlements of Aynet de Besán, Arahos, Àreu, Norís and Tor, united in 1927, and almost its entire territory lies within the Alt Pirineu Natural Park. From Àreu starts the most popular route to the Pica d'Estats, the highest peak in Catalonia, at 3,143 metres. It has 269 inhabitants (INE 2025), who live from livestock farming and, in winter, from mountain tourism. It preserves the Romanesque church of San Félix in Àreu, that of San Julián in Aynet de Besán, and the pre-Romanesque church of San Esteban in Arahos, alongside the ruins of the castle of Àreu.
Monument
Also known as la Força d'Alins, a 15th-century manor house of vernacular architecture, with a pyramidal slate roof and large openings that still retain the iron bars from its time as a prison. The original fortress of the viscounty of Castellbò was razed in 1518 during a Gascon invasion -in 1519 it is recorded how the tower and the wall were torn down by order of the duke of Cardona-; the tower, called "el Colomer", served as a jail until at least 1670, and the manor house was the residence of the Castellarnau family, lords of several forges in the valley, until the 18th century.
Monument
La Força d'Àreu is a small fortified settlement located somewhat apart, to the north, from the village of Àreu, within the municipal area of Alins, in the Pallars Sobirà. The name «força», common in the Pyrenees, designated a walled settlement or the defensive part of a castle, as opposed to the flat, unwalled Àreu. It preserves the old church of Sant Feliu and, behind it, the remains of the fortified enclosure that gives it its name. Documented since at least 1280, in 1519 it had 28 inhabitants; a description from the period notes that the houses were arranged in a closed wall and that there was a square tower, now gone, with the parish church inside the enclosure. Of the buildings, a rectangular hall measuring 14.4 by 7.4 metres survives next to the church.
Monument
Dovecote tower built between the 16th and 18th centuries, used to raise pigeons and occasionally as a watchtower, which explains its inclusion in catalogs of medieval defensive architecture. It survives in good condition, though its interior cannot be visited due to the risk of collapse; it is signposted and fenced, with views over the settlement of Alins. It should not be confused with the tower of the same name in Arbúcies (Girona), linked to the castle of Montsoriu, which is a different and much earlier building.
Monument
La Força de Tor was the medieval castle of the settlement of Tor, in the municipality of Alins (Pallars Sobirà, Lleida), located on the Roc de Sant Pere, above the village. It was of importance in the medieval history of the counties of Urgell and Pallars. On the site where it once stood, the remains of the Romanesque church of Sant Pere de la Força survive today.
Nature
The Vall Ferrera is a sub-comarca of the northern sector of the Pallars Sobirà, one of the deep valleys of the axial Pyrenees that brings together the comarca's highest peaks, such as the Pica d'Estats, at 3,143 metres, the pic de Sotllo and the Monteixo. It comprises the municipality of Alins, whose town was the historical capital of the valley and remains its municipal seat, along with the villages of Àreu, Norís, Tor, Ainet de Besan, Besan and Araós. Its name, already documented in the 11th century, comes from iron working: since the early Middle Ages several forges operated in the valley, which in 1874 produced as much as 360 tonnes a year before ceasing at the end of the 19th century. Like the nearby valleys of Àneu and Boí, it preserves a notable medieval Romanesque heritage.
Curiosity
The Arati incisions are a site with rock carvings located at the Borda d'en Gallart, in the municipality of Alins, in the Pallars Sobirà. It is listed as a Bien Cultural de Interés Nacional (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) and appears in the Inventory of Archaeological and Palaeontological Heritage of Catalonia under the code IPAPC-7790.
Activity
The festa major of Alins, in Pallars Sobirà (Lleida), is celebrated on Easter Sunday. The village also holds a second celebration, the festa major d'estiu (summer festa major), on 24 June.
Nature
The Pica d'Estats, also called Pui de Sotllo, is a mountain of 3143.45 metres located in the axial Pyrenees, on the border between Pallars Sobirà and the French department of Ariège, at the head of the Vall Ferrera and the Sotllo valley, within the Alt Pirineu Natural Park. It is the highest point of the Montcalm massif and is made up of three close peaks: the central one, the highest; the western one, or Verdaguer peak, at 3129 metres; and the eastern one, or punta de Gabarró, at 3114.6 metres, with a geodesic marker. The south face, cut by gullies, drops towards the coma d'Estats, forming the glacial cirque of the estany d'Estats. The ridge linking the pic de Sotllo, the Pica d'Estats and the pic Rodó de Canalbona marks the border with France. Included in the FEEC's challenge of the 100 peaks.
Curiosity
Artisan production of mountain cheese in the Vall Ferrera, Pallars Sobirà.
Historical milestone
Iron gave its name to the vall Ferrera. In 1874 the two forges of Alins, property of the Castellarnau family, produced some 360 tonnes a year and employed some six hundred men between mines, charcoal pits and transport.
Food and drink
The flocks that climb to the high pastures of the vall Ferrera give lambs of lean meat that are cooked over embers or stewed with potato. Sheep farming is one of the activities that keeps the high meadows open.