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The sun and the fog have formed this beautiful spectrum of Brocken in Voltreganès, as can be seen in the Photos of the Readers of La Vanguardia. Ruins, sanctuaries, churches, castles, farmhouses and the mystery of the fog give a special touch to this territory nestled in the Osona region, but with its own personality.
The same personality that the two reference towns of the Voltreganès show: Sant Hipòlit de Voltregà and Las Masies de Voltregà .
The Brocken spectrum is the apparently enormous and magnified shadow of an observer, cast on the upper surfaces of clouds on the far side of the sun.
The phenomenon can appear on any foggy mountain slope or cloud bank. In this case, the spectrum has formed with the early morning fog in the Voltreganès.
The reason why it is called the Brocken spectrum can be found in Germany, where, as in the Catalan region of Osona, frequent fog occurs on the Brocken, a peak of the Harz mountains.
The Brocken specter was observed and described by Johann Silberschlag in 1780. Since then, it has often been recorded in German literature when talking about, for example, the devil and witches.
And Goethe has a lot to do with this, who mentions these legends at the beginning of his Faust, talking about a celebration of Walpurgis night (the night of the witches) on the mountainside. But this phenomenon has also seduced other well-known writers, such as Lewis Carroll, Charles Dickens or Thomas Pynchon.
Actually, this spectrum can be seen in any mountainous region. For example, other common spots are HaleakalÄ National Park on the island of Maui, Hawaii, or in the Cairngorms in Scotland.
A phenomenon associated with the Brocken spectrum are the so-called Ulloa Circles, described by Antonio de Ulloa in the Andes of Quito, in the course of the geodetic expedition to measure the value of the terrestrial meridian degree in the 18th century.
Antonio de Ulloa (Seville, 1716 – Isla de León, 1795) was a Spanish naturalist, soldier and writer, who is considered the discoverer of platinum.
