Cova de Rialb

Cavity known since time immemorial by the people of the region. The oldest written notice we know of is that provided by Artur Bofill in an extensive excursion account about Núria, the valley of Ribes and the Alt Llobregat, the fruit of some excursions carried out in the years 1883-1884 and published in 1888 in the Butlletí de l'Associació d'Excursions Catalanes (Tom X) (predecessor entity of the CEC), in which he makes a brief note: “se troban las covas de Rial, bastant grans, ab hermosas estalactitas, y apenas deterioradas, puig son pochs los qui las visitan” (sic). This same text is reproduced by Puig y Larraz (1896) and by Font i Sagué (1897) in their respective catalogues.

But it is not until 14 August 1910 that Faura i Sans, accompanied by Albert Santamaria and Gaspar Sala (CEC), make a first reconnaissance and a brief descriptive article is published. In the photos it can be seen that below the cave passed the wagon line of the Queralbs mines and where years later the Núria cremallera would pass. This visit aroused the curiosity of the brothers Eusebi and Emili Turc, members of the Agrupació de Sports y Excursions de Ribes, who accompanied by Gaspar Sala carried out during the year 1911 a first and detailed survey of the cave. This work served as the basis for a new article signed by Faura i Sans at the end of the same 1911. The survey by the Turc brothers is preserved in the map library of the Centre Excursionista de Catalunya.

Subsequently the cave was the object of different naturalists and especially of biospeleologists (Maheu, Zariquiey, Español). Little by little it became one of the classic cavities of Catalan speleologists. During 1972 it was the main objective of a campaign in the area by members of the SIE – CEA, in which the most accurate survey we know of was made.

As an anecdotal note, in 1973 the cave served for a 2500-hour endurance test by Emili Reyes, building a brick partition that closed the entrance of the main gallery. On 1 July 1984, on the initiative of the Escola Catalana d'Espeleologia and the Federació Catalana d'Espeleologia, a clean-up day was organised in the cavity and among other rubbish 71 sacks of rubble were extracted from the aforementioned partition.

Coleoptera: Perriniella faurai.