Mas de Tinet

Mas de Tinet is an abandoned stone farmhouse — a traditional Catalan masia — in the municipality of Alcover, in the Alt Camp comarca, Tarragona province. The ruin sits deep in the Glorieta river valley, at roughly 700 metres above sea level, surrounded by pine and oak woodland, well away from any paved road.

How to get there?

Mas de Tinet lies a few kilometres from the centre of Alcover, toward the neighbouring municipality of l'Albiol, inside the Glorieta valley at the foot of the Serra de Prades range. No road reaches the ruin — it's accessible only on foot or by mountain bike, along a forest track that also passes a spring bearing the same name as the farmhouse. Most visitors set out from Alcover itself; the route connects with other well-known spots in the valley, such as the Ermita del Remei, Mas de Forès, the Niu de l'Àliga viewpoint, and the Fonts del Glorieta.

What will you see?

What remains on site are the ruins of a former farming estate — walls and foundations that hint at the scale the farmstead once had. Local hiking chroniclers point to Mas de Tinet as one of the oldest masies in the whole municipality of Alcover. The building is listed in Alcover's catalogue of protected farmhouses within the local urban planning plan (POUM), under the reference M051, confirming its value as a witness to the area's old agricultural settlement pattern.

Right next to the ruin runs a spring known as the Font de Tinet (also called Font dels Capellans), which for generations supplied the farmhouse and passing travellers with water. Within a few hundred metres, hikers can find the remains of other abandoned farmsteads — Mas de Messeter, with its own basin and spring, and the smaller Maset d'en Joan Bo. The whole area is wrapped in dense pine-and-oak forest typical of the Serra de Prades interior, offering shade in summer and vivid colour along the valley in autumn and spring.

Condition and outlook

Mas de Tinet has stood uninhabited for a long time, and its decay has progressed over decades — hikers were already describing it as a ruin visible from the forest trails in the early 2000s. In recent years the property, roughly 600 square metres of built area on a wooded plot of close to 52 hectares, has been marketed for sale as a restoration project, aimed at rural tourism or a small-scale guesthouse. From the site there are views across the Camp de Tarragona plain toward the Mediterranean coast, which keeps the location appealing despite the advanced state of the ruins.

When to visit?

Since the approach runs mostly through forest, spring and autumn are the most pleasant seasons to walk it, with mild temperatures and colourful woodland. In summer, an early start is worth it, as the open stretches of the Glorieta valley can get quite hot around midday. Winter brings quieter trails, though it's worth checking conditions after rain, since the forest track can turn slippery.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mas de Tinet? It's the ruin of a traditional Catalan masia (farmhouse) in the municipality of Alcover, listed in the local catalogue of protected farmhouses under reference M051.

Can you drive there? No — the site sits deep in the forest of the Glorieta valley and can only be reached on foot or by mountain bike, via a forest track that also leads to the nearby Font de Tinet spring.

What else is there to see nearby? Close by are the ruins of other abandoned farmsteads, Mas de Messeter and Maset d'en Joan Bo, and the valley's trails also lead to the Ermita del Remei, the Ermita de les Virtuts, and the Niu de l'Àliga viewpoint.

Is the building protected in any way? Yes, Mas de Tinet is listed in Alcover's catalogue of protected farmhouses under its municipal planning scheme (POUM), even though the structure itself has remained a ruin for years and would need substantial restoration.