A LURTE. A centre dedicated to the study of snow and avalanches

A LURTE. Centro de referencia de los riesgos naturales.
Casa de los Ingenieros. Plaza de Forestales s/n
22880 CANFRANC ESTACIÓN
T. (+34) 974 373141
www.alurte.es
turismo@canfranc.es
info@alurte.es

The decision to build an international train station in the “Arañones” area of Canfanc brought engineers face to face with the complicated problem of protecting people and infrastructures from avalanches. This issue became ever more pressing after the great fire of Canfranc in 1944, when the greater part of the population relocated to this area and it was renamed Canfranc Estación. It has had a fixed population ever since and numerous studies on avalanches have been carried out with the installation of protective and corrective structures in order to guarantee the safety of its residents. Nowadays, Canfranc is both a national and European reference on this subject.


The former residence of the the Forestry Commission employees and engineers was donated to the town hall and has since been reconverted into a centre for the investigation, interpretation and study of avalanches and snow. The ground floor has several multimedia rooms and exhibition areas and the first floor houses a museum on the history of Canfranc Estación, with special emphasis on avalanche protection. Finally, the main exhibit is on the second floor, where projected images, sound effects and movements recreate the experience of an avalanche and help visitors understand this phenomenon first hand through the use of special effects. In addition to this, the centre has a library for research and study on avalanches and snow open to universities, forestry commission staff, naturalists, road-building and mountain infrastructure technicians, accident and emergency teams, ski resorts, mountaineers and other groups with a professional interest in learning more about avalanches in the Pyrenees.


This centre also follows actual avalanches on the Arañones mountains in real time. These are filmed for research purposes by cameras and later viewed for scientific research and study. Transfrontier cooperation projects ensure links with a network of Spanish, French and European centres which together assess the risks posed by these events and look at means of predicting avalanches and minimising the dangers.

Information: www.alurte.es


Ver ALURTE. Centro de referencia de a nieve y los aludes en el Pirineo en un mapa más grande

. [ Jacetania ]