Cap de Creus vineyard mosaic acts as firebreak near Roses
A wine estate inside the Parc Natural del Cap de Creus is showing how farming can help protect the landscape from wildfires. At Mas Marès, vines share the land with pasture, cork oak woodland, scrub, dry stone walls and open ground. Together they form a patchwork that slows the spread of fire and helps shield the built-up area of Roses.
The Cap de Creus natural park covers the rocky peninsula at the northern end of the Costa Brava, a short drive from Empuriabrava and Castelló d'Empúries.
An old model brought back
The project began in 2003. Anna Espelt, an oenologist, biologist and director of Espelt Viticultors, started working with the managers of the natural park to recover a way of managing land that had been almost forgotten. In Catalan it is called the "mosaic agroforestal", or agroforestry mosaic.