Two things are closing Catalan forest right now. They work differently.

Meanwhile, on any given summer morning, a handful of Catalan massifs shut on a decision taken at 09:30 that day and reopen when the risk drops.

Both are closures. They have almost nothing else in common.

Fire risk closes by the day

The Cos d'Agents Rurals runs Pla Alfa all year, grading forest-fire danger from 0 (low) to 4 (extreme). It's assessed daily and republished at 00:00 and 09:30.

At the high levels, access to protected natural spaces and heavily used forest gets restricted, and specific massifs close outright. It is never a blanket rule across Catalonia. On a bad day three or four areas are shut while everything around them stays open.

The practical consequence is timing. The level you checked last night is not necessarily the level at eight this morning. Pla Alfa is the one closure that can change between planning a ride and starting it.

Swine fever closes by the month

African swine fever reached Collserola's wild boar in late 2025. By March the response had escalated to closing the whole park. On the bike it means one thing: asphalt only. Forest tracks and unpaved paths are out, and that includes the Carretera de les Aigües.

The disease doesn't infect humans. The restriction exists because we are the vector - the virus travels on tyres and shoes - and because human traffic pushes boar around while culling operations run. Reopening depends on removing the 500 to 600 boar left inside the park. In July the Agriculture Minister said they still can't say when that will be: the forest is overgrown and tracking the animals is slow.

That takes Barcelona's Backyard, 57 km straight off the city, off the table on dirt until it lifts. It's the closure that costs Barcelona riders the most, and the one with the longest run left in it.

One closure lifts when the wind drops. The other lifts when the last boar is gone.

The fires leave a mark long after they're out

On 3 July a fire above Cruïlles burned 2,030 hectares through Les Gavarres. The Traka runs right next to it.

A burn scar changes a ride. No shade on a section that used to have it. Loose, unstable ground where roots held the surface. And often a separate closure while the ground regenerates, which is a third mechanism again - nothing to do with today's fire risk or with swine fever.

Worth knowing: satellite burn mapping only catches fires of roughly 30 hectares or larger. Of the cluster that burned above Cruïlles that day, the 2,030 hectare fire and a 71 hectare one register. Several smaller ones don't. Absence of a burn scar on a map is not proof the ground didn't burn.

We've put it on the map

The routes map at gritline.cc/routes now draws closures directly.

Fire-risk closures come straight from Pla Alfa and update themselves every day - no one at Gritline touches them. Longer-running restrictions like Collserola we add and verify by hand. Tap any closed area and you get what's actually restricted, the date we last checked it, and a link to the official notice.

There's a burn-scar layer too: this season's wildfire perimeters from Copernicus EFFIS, off by default, real shapes rather than pins.

One thing to be clear about. Gritline is not the authority here, and we've built the map so it never pretends to be. We show you what's closed and we link you to the people who decide. If our feed can't reach Pla Alfa, the map says so rather than showing you an empty map that reads as all clear.

Before you ride

Check the morning of, not the night before. Pla Alfa moves at 09:30.

In Collserola, asphalt only. The dirt is closed, including the Carretera de les Aigües.

If you meet tape or a sign on the ground, the sign wins. It's newer than any map, ours included.

Ride it when it's open. Every route ridden, recorded, and written up by us - see them all at gritline.cc/routes. Want an email when we publish the next one? Join the newsletter.

Closure status accurate as of 21 July 2026 - Pla Alfa levels change twice daily and the Collserola restriction is reviewed as culling progresses. Confirm the official notice before you head out.