Muntanyes de Prades i Serra de Montsant Starlight Tourism Destination

The Muntanyes de Prades and the Serra de Montsant are neighboring ranges in the Tarragona hills of southern Catalonia. The Fundación Starlight certified the area as a Starlight Tourism Destination in 2021, covering 21 municipalities. Its list dates the certificate to April 2021, and the certificate was handed over in Prades on 19 November 2021. Like other destinations, it is reviewed every four years.

A destination certificate covers more than the sky. The foundation checks sky quality and the means of protecting it, along with lodging, observing equipment for visitors and training for the staff who interpret the sky. At the same handover, the Catalan government expanded the light pollution protection zone of the Parc Natural de la Serra del Montsant from 12 to 32 municipalities. Catalonia's climate minister called it the largest protected sky area in Europe.

The foundation's announcement gives no sky quality readings, and our light pollution map estimates Bortle 6 at the coordinates we use. Expect better conditions in the higher, emptier parts of the ranges than near the towns.

The Parc Astronòmic Muntanyes de Prades, in the village of Prades, runs ticketed shows that end with telescope observing outside. The park schedules its sessions so that every group observes in full night, even when the indoor part starts in daylight. It suggests checking the moon phase first and choosing nights without a moon to see the sky at its darkest. In our data, May, June and July give the most hours with the Milky Way core up in full darkness. The core peaks around 20 degrees above the southern horizon.