Dry-stone structures provide direct physical evidence of the historical transformation of the landscape, particularly during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. They are closely linked to population growth, agricultural expansion and the socio-economic changes associated with viticulture and the phylloxera crisis. They stand as a tangible record of traditional farming activity and the collective effort of generations of rural communities.

Dry stone is a defining feature of the cultural landscape, shaping the form of hillsides, slopes, coastlines and agricultural plains. Dry-stone walls, terraces, paths and huts create a distinctive landscape that is closely tied to collective memory and to the Mediterranean character.

Dry-stone huts, walls and other structures reflect ways of life, working practices and building techniques that were passed down orally from one generation to the next, without written documentation. They represent a traditional body of knowledge based on experience, observation of the natural environment and the efficient use of local resources.

Most of the dry-stone walls found in the area—forming narrow terraces of cultivated land on mountain slopes and separated by stone walls—date from the nineteenth century, a period of expansion in vine cultivation across Catalonia. Towards the end of the century, this period coincided with the arrival of phylloxera in France, particularly in Vallespir. There is also growing evidence that some of these walls may be much older, possibly dating back to the medieval period. These walls fulfilled a variety of functions: retaining soil on sloping ground, as in the wall that separates the two vineyard plots at Pla de Maset; marking the boundaries between different properties; and, in some cases, protecting historic paths.