The Coll de Balaguer is a mountain pass

Mountain pass

A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...

 in Catalonia

Catalonia

Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. It is located at the point where the Catalan Pre-Coastal Range

Catalan Pre-Coastal Range

The Catalan Pre-Coastal Range is a system of mountain ranges running parallel to the Mediterranean Sea coast in Catalonia. It is part of the Catalan Mediterranean System. Its main axis runs between the Catalan Transversal Range and the Serra de l'Espina, which connects with the Ports de...

 reaches the sea, in L'Almadrava, within the Vandellòs i l'Hospitalet de l'Infant

Vandellòs i l'Hospitalet de l'Infant

Vandellòs i l'Hospitalet de l'Infant is a municipality in the comarca of the Baix Camp in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the south-west of the comarca, between the Serra de Llaberia range and the coast....

 municipality, Baix Camp

Baix Camp

Baix Camp is a comarca of Catalonia in northeastern Spain. It is one of the three comarques into which Camp de Tarragona was divided in the comarcal division of 1936....

.

Despite its scant altitude this pass has been an important communication line between the Terres de l'Ebre

Terres de l'Ebre

Terres de l'Ebre is one of the seven territories defined by the Regional Plan of Catalonia. It is located in the south-west of Catalonia, in the southern part of river Ebre, and will be formed by four comarques: Baix Ebre, Montsià, Terra Alta and Ribera d'Ebre.The northern coastal limit of the...

 region and the Camp de Tarragona

Camp de Tarragona

Camp de Tarragona is a natural and historical region of Catalonia, Spain. It includes a central plain, surrounded by the Serralada Prelitoral mountain chain on the west and in the north, with the Mediterranean sand beaches of the Costa Daurada on the east and limited in the south by the Coll de...

 since ancient times. Nowadays highways AP-7

Autopista AP-7

The Autopista AP-7 is a Spanish autopista . It is a toll motorway that runs along the Mediterranean coast of Spain.AP-7 has two different sections :...

, N-340

N-340

The N-340 is a major highway in Spain. It is over 1,000 km long starting south of Barcelona and running predominantly along the coast to Chiclana de la Frontera and the N-IV to Cádiz. In many places the road has now been by-passed by the Autovía A-7 and Autopista AP-7.It follows the former...

, as well as the RENFE

RENFE

Renfe Operadora is the state-owned company which operates freight and passenger trains on the 1668-mm "Iberian gauge" and 1435-mm "European gauge" networks of the Spanish national railway infrastructure company ADIF .- History :The name RENFE is derived from that of the former Spanish National...

 Barcelona-Valencia railway line go through the Coll de Balaguer pass.

There are the ruins of a 13th century castle overlooking the pass from the time of the fight against the Saracens. The Vandellòs Nuclear Power Plant

Vandellòs Nuclear Power Plant

The Vandellòs Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power station in Vandellòs located close to the Coll de Balaguer pass in Catalonia, Spain....

is located right south of Coll de Balaguer.