Espai Natura

Masia de Can Deu, documented since 1415, allows us to relive what the Vallesian farmhouses were like before the industrialization of the countryside. From the 15th century several families owned the farmhouse: the Sallent — Deu, the Miquel, the Mornau... Some lived there all year round, for others the farmhouse was a summer residence, but all of them carried out productive work in the countryside, as shown in the Museum of Life in the Camp.

Thus, traditionally Can Deu has been an agricultural holding that specialized in the cultivation of vines until, at the end of the 19th century, the phylloxera crisis caused the abandonment of this cultivation. The farmhouse itself has been changing and growing over time depending on the interests of the owners of the moment.

The industrial and urban growth of Sabadell in the 1950s led to the end of its agricultural use. In 1964, Caixa Sabadell bought the Can Deu estate to save it from real estate exploitation and preserve it for the future as a space for leisure and conservation of the environment.It is very curious to discover how the peasants lived, what was the system used to make bread, how they were heated in winter, or what utensils were in the rooms of the lords. For this reason, the Can Deu farmhouse opens its doors every Sunday from 12.30 to 14.30 h (except in August) so that, everyone who wants it, can get to know all the dependencies preserved since the 19th century in a special journey through time.

When in 1964 Caixa d'Estalvis Sabadell bought the Can Deu de Sabadell estate, the main objective was to maintain and publicize the rich natural, historical and cultural heritage that it treasures and which, by extension, is a sample of the Vallesian past.Can Deu currently has a total area of about 86 Ha and is owned by the Fundació Especial Antiga Caixa Sabadell 1859.

At the user level (around 150,000 people/year) the main use of the forest is that of leisure and practically functions as a peri-urban park for the citizens of Sabadell and neighboring populations. From the very beginning, Caixa Sabadell wanted to provide the estate with a legal figure that would protect it according to criteria of landscape protection and use as a recreation area.

For this reason the Forest of Can Deu was declared a Protected Forest by the Generalitat in April 1992 (DOGC no. 1594). For the proper management of the forest, the Can Deu estate has a Technical Forest Management and Improvement Plan (PTGMF 1365, published in DOGC no. 4871).

Until 9 December 2014, it was a transitional forest that occupied a good part of the old farmland of the estate. The forest was dominated by white pine (Pinus halepensis) with a very high population density and a greater or lesser presence of other species, of which oak (Quercus ilex) stood out but where it was easy to find oaks. The recovery of the original forest, the oak grove, took place in a differentiated way depending on the particular characteristics of each area of the forest.

Thus, there was a greater density of oaks (and they are larger) and a more powerful undergrowth in the environment of the torrents that cross the estate in a general north/south direction and in the most shady areas. On the contrary, in the flat parts and most frequented by visitors the presence of oaks was reduced and the undergrowth not important.

La ventada of December 9, 2014

The windy fleet of December 9 that affected a large part of the north of the Vallès had serious consequences throughout the Rodal de Sabadell; one of the farms most affected was Can Deu, with the loss of 70-80% of the forest mass. Almost all the affected trees were white pine and to a lesser extent oaks and oaks that were cut by the fall of the pines.

Once the fallen wood was cleared, the main challenge was how to face the recovery of the forest. The Fundació Antiga caja Sabadell 1859 sought the advice of experts in the forest world from different fields who would form a Technical Commission in order to agree on and supervise a Forest Recovery Plan. The starting point was:

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  The state of the forest, with areas where the previous pine forest was maintained, areas that had lost the pines but with sufficiently developed oaks and areas without trees but covered with grasses and shrubs.
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  The low risk of erosion of the land, since practically the entire forest was covered with vegetation.
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  The use of the forest as a recreation area and conservation of the forest environment.

The recovery of the Forest of Can Deu

In successive annual campaigns, the 1859 Caixa Sabadell Foundation ensures the recovery of the forest through daily management, monitoring the development of vegetation and the organization of annual open days for the maintenance of reforestation. In addition, in the first two years, maintenance irrigation was carried out in the summer of the reforested areas to contribute to the acclimatization of the trees to their new habitat.In the future, the work of monitoring vegetation and reforestation will continue, expanding them with pedagogical days where it will be explained what has been done in the forest and how you want to continue in order to grow establish a new forest in the medium/long term.

Recovery of forest signage

The ease of access and the tradition of use by the people of Sabadell, make the forest a place of leisure and recreation for many people. Inside the forest were marked several routes of a sporting nature (yellow, 2,100 m; blue, 2,300 m; red, 3,300 m; green, 3,600 m) and for knowledge of the environment, but both the landmarks and the signs of the forest disappeared with the sale. Within the Forest Recovery Plan, from Espai Natura, work is being done to to recover this furniture. In 2017, the information signs of the forest were installed again and in the future new itineraries will be incorporated and marked on the ground.

Disposal of forest use

Traditionally, Caixa Sabadell has been making transfers of use of the forest to those entities interested in holding activities of all kinds (pilgrimages, gatherings, sports races, etc.). It should be remembered that the ownership of the Can Deu estate is private and that the holding of mass and/or for-profit activities require the relevant authorization from the property.
Since 2003, organisations organising this type of activity have been required to fill out an application form for the transfer of use of the forest and to pay a small symbolic amount to cover the extraordinary costs of cleaning and maintaining the forest arising from their activity.
Més informació sobre la cessió del Bosc: espainatura@fundaciosabadell.cat / Tel. 937164781

In 1964 Caixa Sabadell saved itself from urban speculation, transforming it into an Environmental Activities Centre. The Espai Natura comprises the Masia de Can Deu, the Museum of Life in the Countryside, the Can Deu forest, the farm and the church of Sant Vicenç de Verders, recovered from the Sau reservoir by Caixa Sabadell. Currently, the Espai Natura is owned by the Fundació Antiga Caixa Sabadell 1859 together with the Espai Cultura Sabadell, a sociocultural space dedicated to innovation and culture with a special focus on art and education, which is located in the modernist building designed by Jeroni Martorell at c/ d'en Font 25 in Sabadell.

Hours: Mon to Fri / 09:00 - 14:00

93 716 47 81

espainatura@fundaciosabadell.cat

Camí de la Masia de Can Deu, 1, 08207 Sabadell
Coordinates: 41º 34' 44.3” N/2º 05' 03.2” E

By private transport: On the C-58 motorway, exit Sabadell Centre/Nord, continue on the side towards Sabadell Nord and, passing next to a gas station, go down Avda. Can Deu, go around the blocks of the neighborhood along C/ Bosc until you reach C/ de la Prada where there is the access road.

By public transport: Renfe R-4, Sabadell Nord station (Pl. Spain) and at the exit take the city bus TUS (lines 1, 2 and 3, inclusive rates) in the direction of Can Deu until the end of the journey. FF.CC. Generalitat, Vallès S-2 line, last station Sabadell Parc del Nord and from there 15 minutes on foot. Interchanger RENFE/FCG/TUS in Sabadell Nord (Pl. Spain).

To access the forest of Can Deu you can also do it from the Ctra. Sabadell/Matadepera. There is a large car park (unguarded, open from 8 am to 9 pm) or from the Leisure Area of Sant Julià d'Altura.

Sustainable Commitment

At Espai Natura Fundació 1859 Caixa Sabadell we are aware of the importance of promoting educational, tourism and leisure development in a sustainable way and we assume the principles and objectives adopted specifically at the World Summit on Sustainable Development 2015, COP 21 and the World Charter for Sustainable Tourism + 20. For this reason, we are committed to optimizing the sustainability of the equipment and the rest of the farm, improving its behavior with the environment.

For this reason, Espai Natura will continue to offer quality educational, cultural and recreational activities, aimed at all audiences and especially schoolchildren and families, which help to better know the natural environment and the rural world, and to learn to value and respect them. In this same sense, our entity has adopted the Responsible Tourism Policy, through which it undertakes to comply with the requirements established for BIOSPHERE membership.

It will also continue to protect the natural and cultural heritage of Can Deu, as it has done in the last 50 years, managing it, cleaning it and marking it properly for the enjoyment of the citizens who use it as a space for recreation, sport and culture: the farmhouse, the forest or Sant Vicenç de Verders are the most remarkable elements. Likewise, we are committed to motivating and training our staff with training and awareness-raising actions on the principles of Responsible Tourism, to promote good environmental practices in the environment and participate in external activities, and to report on environmental improvements and actions of the entity.

Finally, our entity manifests its commitment to society by applying discounts to educational centers of maximum complexity, favoring the promotion of neighborhood entities, promoting volunteering and collaborating with social entities that help the most disadvantaged. We also undertake to combat sexual exploitation or any other form of commercial exploitation and harassment, in particular of children, adolescents, women and minorities, and to adopt measures of universal accessibility.

And it is that one of our main objectives is, in short, to carry out sustainable management, assuming the commitments of continuous improvement in all areas: environmental, economic and social, as well as in the satisfaction of users and to subject new projects, extensions of facilities or activities, to criteria of sustainability and efficiency in the use of resources.