Lakes, lagoons and rivers

Lac du Lanoux

Estany de Lanós

Porté-Puymorens · 2,213 m

Natura 2000 (Capcir, Carlit et Campcardos)

Photo: Alan Mattingly, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

At 2,213 metres, in a granite cirque dominated by the Carlit, the Lanoux is the largest lake in the French Pyrenees. Its waters, diverted towards the Ariège, gave rise to a famous international arbitration between France and Spain.

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Overview

Nestled in a vast mountain cirque, north of the Carlit massif, Lac du Lanoux lies at an altitude of 2,213 metres in the commune of Angoustrine-Villeneuve-des-Escaldes. It can be reached on foot, most often from the Puymorens pass or from Porté-Puymorens. With some 170 hectares, it is the largest lake in the French Pyrenees.

The lake owes its present size to a concrete arch dam, 45 metres high, built between 1957 and 1960. It raised the lake’s capacity from about 17 to 70 million cubic metres. Its waters, which once flowed naturally towards the Mediterranean via the Carol, the Segre and the Ebro, are now diverted towards the Ariège to produce electricity at the L’Hospitalet power station, on the Atlantic side.

The project gave rise to the “Lake Lanoux case”, a dispute between France and Spain, which feared losing the waters of the Carol. An arbitral tribunal, chaired by the Swedish jurist Sture Petrén, ruled in favour of France on 16 November 1957: a tunnel returns an equivalent volume of water to the Carol, upstream of the Puigcerdà canal. The award remains a landmark text of the international law of watercourses.

The lake is surrounded by peaks, from the Pic Carlit (2,921 m), the highest point in the Pyrénées-Orientales, to the Pic de la Grava and the Pic de Font-Vive. The area forms part of vast protected high-mountain landscapes, where you may come across the Pyrenean chamois and the rock ptarmigan.

Key figures

Altitude: 2,213 m
Surface area: approx. 170 ha
Volume: approx. 70 million m³
Dam: concrete arch, 45 m high (1957–1960)
Arbitral award: 16 November 1957
Neighbouring Pic Carlit: 2,921 m

Wildlife, plants and landscapes

A high-mountain cirque

The lake lies at the bottom of a cirque ringed by peaks, among them the Carlit, the highest point in the Pyrénées-Orientales.

Waters that change seas

The waters of the Lanoux, naturally flowing towards the Mediterranean, are diverted towards the Ariège and the Garonne basin.

An international arbitration

In 1957, a tribunal chaired by Sture Petrén found the French project to be in keeping with the Treaty of Bayonne of 1866, provided the water was returned to the Carol.

Long-standing opposition

As early as the 1910s, the irrigators of the Cerdanya were worried by an initial plan to divert water towards the Ariège.

The queen of the water fairies

According to the legends collected by Joan Amades, the queen of the "goges", the water fairies of Catalan lore, is said to reign over the Lanoux.

Wildlife of the heights

The protected areas of the Carlit are home to the Pyrenean desman, the rock ptarmigan and the otter.

When to go

The lake can be explored on foot from June to October, once the snow has melted. In winter the area remains under snow and can only be approached on snowshoes or skis, with the necessary equipment and experience. In the high mountains the weather changes quickly: set out early, bring warm clothing and check the weather forecast.

Getting there

The most classic starting point is the Puymorens pass (1,919 m), along a waymarked path that crosses the Portella de Lanós before descending towards the lake. You can also set out from Porté-Puymorens along the GR 7, or reach the lake from the Bouillouses along the GR 10. Allow a day for the round trip, depending on the route; the Bésines and Bouillouses refuges are the nearest.