Introduction
The tramuntana is a wind from the North Pole, which is strong and cold and accelerates as it is squeezed between the northern Pyrenees and the south-west of the Massif Central.
This wind which is typical of l’Empordà can quickly pass from dead calm to a north wind with gusts of up to 200 km/h. The ongoing action of these strong winds makes it hard for the trees to grow vertically in this area and forces them to grow following the direction of the wind, which gives the tops of these trees distinctive shapes and they grow very close to the ground. The seafront used to have shrubs like cade juniper, common myrtle and others which deflected the wind and so the pines behind did not suffer so much from the effects of the tramuntana. This shrubby strip has now disappeared.