We explore a part of the Pyrenees, visiting France and Spain.

We depart from Biarritz (LFBZ), France. The airfield existed before World War II, was heavily damaged, and had to be rebuilt, finally reopening to civilian aircraft in 1954. Only about 25 km to the south, we reach San Sebastián Airport (LESO), Spain. The airport sits at just 16 feet MSL on a sandbar. The city of San Sebastián (Donostia in Basque) is a small seaside city. It is home to the second-highest concentration of Michelin-starred restaurants in the world — Kyoto is number one.

From San Sebastián, we head southeast, tracking inland across the rolling green hills of Navarra to Pamplona (LEPP), Spain. It is about 6 km from the city centre. Pamplona is, of course, famous the world over for the Fiestas de San Fermín — the running of the bulls — which runs from 6 to 14 July each year. Eight consecutive mornings, six bulls (and two or three steers to calm them) are released through the narrow old streets for about 825 metres to the bullring, with however many foolhardy participants happen to be running in front of them. But Pamplona is more than the encierro — it's the historical capital of the Kingdom of Navarra, which at its medieval peak stretched from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. The city's medieval walls, Gothic cathedral, and old town are beautiful.

From Pamplona, we head east and slightly south, into the foothills of the Aragonese Pyrenees. We reach Santa Cilia de Jaca (LECI), Spain, a small airfield with a strong gliding and skydiving culture: there's apparently a swimming pool for pilots waiting between flights! We're now entering the heart of the range. The Pyrenees stretch roughly 430 km from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, forming the natural border between France and Spain. They're geologically distinct from the Alps — older, more compact, and in many ways more dramatic, because the highest summits rise almost directly from the plains with very little transition. The range contains around 200 peaks above 2,000 metres, with the highest, Aneto, reaching 3,404 metres on the Spanish side. Pyrenean weather is notoriously changeable — Atlantic fronts pile in from the west and can build fast.

Now we head north back across the border into France, threading through or over the high ridgeline. The first POI is the Lac De Gaube. It is famous for its beauty and well known because the Lake can be easily reached. The next Lake is Lake de Cap-de-Long, one of the largest reservoirs in the Pyrenees. Its dam stands 101 meters tall and holds back over 67 million cubic meters of water. The reservoir supplies water for power generation at the Pragnères power plant—one of the most powerful hydroelectric plants in France. Next, we reach the Pic du Midi de Bigorre, home to the Pic du Midi Observatory. Nowhere on the northern side of the Pyrenees is there another mountain of comparable altitude so close to the plain — the surrounding peaks reach 2,500 metres at best, which makes the Pic du Midi geometrically extraordinary. The Pic du Midi is where NASA's lunar map was drawn up in 1969, and it's the world's oldest high-mountain astronomical observatory. It's also the only Dark-Sky Preserve in France. The observatory has been operating continuously since the 1880s. Scientists have made the arduous trek up since 1884, and the history of research here goes back to 1774. From the air at this point, if visibility allows, we could see the Col du Tourmalet directly below — the highest paved road pass in the French Pyrenees at 2,115 metres and one of the most legendary climbs in the Tour de France. The Tourmalet has been included in the Tour de France more often than any other pass, since 1910, when the Pyrenees were first introduced to the race.

We arc east and then south to Bagnères-de-Luchon (LFCB), France. Bagnères-de-Luchon (often just "Luchon") is a classic 19th-century spa town in the high Garonne valley. The thermal baths have been in use since Roman times. It's also a Tour de France landmark — the Col de Peyresourde just above town has featured in the race almost every year. We cross back into Spain, heading south, descending from the Pyrenean spine into the dry, pre-Pyrenean hills of Aragon, and reach Benabarre Airport (LENA), Spain.

From Benabarre, we head east across the pre-Pyrenean plateau, tracking the southern flanks of the range as the terrain starts climbing again towards the eastern Pyrenees. Then we turn north into the mountain valleys, picking our way through the Alt Urgell to the destination Andorra–La Seu d'Urgell Airport (LESU), Spain. It is a public airport owned by the government of Catalonia, located in the municipality of Montferrer i Castellbò in eastern Spain. It serves the city of La Seu d'Urgell and the microstate of Andorra, which is 12 km north of the airport. La Seu d'Urgell is a small Catalan city with a remarkable Romanesque cathedral, the 12th-century Seu d'Urgell Cathedral, and it's the seat of the Bishop of Urgell, one of the two co-princes of Andorra.

Andorra is a landlocked microstate in the eastern Pyrenees, bordered by France to the north and Spain to the south, covering just 181 square miles. It is the world's only co-principality, jointly ruled by the President of France and the Bishop of Urgell. That arrangement has been in place since 1278 — the treaty that ended a dispute between the Count of Foix and the Bishop of La Seu d'Urgell. The French president, therefore, inherits the title of Prince of Andorra the moment they take office, which makes Emmanuel Macron, among other things, a feudal prince. Andorra has never formally belonged to either Spain or France. Andorra la Vella is the highest capital city in Europe, at about 1,023 metres above sea level. Andorra is the only country in the world where the sole official language is Catalan. It uses the euro but is not an EU member. Around 80% of Andorra's GDP comes from tourism and related services. Millions of visitors come annually, mainly for duty-free shopping and skiing — the Grandvalira ski area has over 300 km of slopes. Andorra has no army, no railway, and, effectively, no airport of its own. Andorra claims to be the last surviving fragment of the Marca Hispanica, the military buffer zone created by Charlemagne to keep the Moors from advancing into the Frankish empire. Whether or not that's strictly accurate, it is genuinely one of the oldest political entities in Europe with continuously unchanged borders since 1278.

The flight is 291 miles long with 5 landings. I will be in the A2A Aerostar, but almost any GA single-engine or Twin is suitable. As always, please fly what you like.

The flight plans are here. Use the gfp plans with care; they will not be read by my systems.

Recommended scenery:

Biarritz - LFBZ

San Sebastian - LESO

Pamplona - LEPP

Bagneres - LFCB

Se de Urgel - LESU

LESU, LESO, and LEPP are available as payware.

 

We try real weather. Please set your simulator for a 3 pm local departure.

 

Multiplayer Particulars:

Date and time: Sunday, March 29, 2026. 16:00 UTC

Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server

These flights are events posted at DigitalThemePark. For these Sunday flights, we use DTP’s Discord Server for communication.

If you want to help others enjoy the multiplayer experience, don't forget to enter your aircraft details on the multiplayer spreadsheet (linked here). Your courtesy will save others a lot of time and effort. Thanks!

I removed the LECI link from the post above. There is no scenery for this airfield.

Here is a TDS GTN flightplan:  https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/w5ossp4g655xcxr7sz9gk/LFBZ_LESU.zip?rlkey=fs377t4on8yt8gawyhhnyvv0b&st=hooyilk8&dl=0