Port de Salau, Mountain pass between Alt Àneu and Couflens, France-Spain

Port de Salau is a mountain pass in the Pyrenees connecting the French Couserans region with Catalonia in Spain. The pass sits at approximately 2085 meters and forms a natural border between the two countries, accessible through steep hiking trails.

Used since the 12th century by pilgrims heading to Spain, the pass had a hospice built by the Hospitallers of Saint John of Jerusalem, established at Salau in 1203 near a chapel founded by a Spanish princess. In 1903 French engineers built a cable station to carry timber from the Noguera Pallaresa valley, and the ruins of the forestry workers' building were consolidated in 2019. A 1904 France-Spain convention planned a railway tunnel under the pass, later abandoned.

This passage was an important route for pilgrims traveling to Santiago de Compostela during medieval times. The religious connection shaped the region and left traces in the old structures and paths that still exist today.

The climb from the French side starts at the hamlet of Salau, in the commune of Couflens, and takes about 3 hours 30 minutes. From Catalonia, the usual route leaves the Fornet refuge in Alt Àneu and also takes around 3 hours 30 minutes. The pass lies at 2,085–2,087 m, so carry warm layers and rain gear for sudden mountain weather.

In 1903 French engineers built a cable-car station at the pass to haul timber from the Bonabé forest; the ruined foresters' and cable operators' building was consolidated in 2019. A plaque at the planned tunnel's north portal records the abandoned Saint-Girons–Lleida railway, with altitudes and distances.