Afterwards, we headed for the town of Llivia, a mere 10-minute drive from our accommodation. The cafes and restaurants around Placa Major started to fill up in the late afternoon with returning skiers and it made a really pleasant place to spend the evening.

From Cerdanya, it is an hour-long drive through glorious mountain scenery to Ribes de Freser. This is the terminus town for the cremallera, a tiny rack-and-pinion train that makes the steep climb through the Gorges del Freser to Nuria — the only way of reaching the ski resort, bar a two-hour hike up the valley.

With only 10 pistes, Nuria is not going to occupy decent skiers for long, but the empty slopes make it a perfect place for beginners to hone their skills without fear of being mowed down. Instead, we carried on to Camprodon, a lively mountain town that is the gateway to Vallter 2000, the most easterly downhill ski station in the Pyrenees. Situated in a glacial bowl, the compact resort is an ideal spot for families or beginners.

I spent most of the day there enjoying the three-mile Riu-Xalet run, which stretches from just below the summit down a tight, twisting piste through trees to a chairlift below the main resort.

Since accommodation on the mountain is limited, we stayed at Mas Morer, an old converted farmhouse in the hamlet of Abella, just outside Camprodon. Our two-bedroom apartment had its own balcony, with great mountain views and a fireplace fuelled by a seemingly endless supply of logs.

La Roca is a short walk down the valley, where the houses teeter on the lump of rock that gives the hamlet its name, and where we enjoyed our best meal in the Catalan Pyrenees. Small and cosy, Can Pei restaurant was packed with skiers enjoying a late Sunday lunch — bearing in mind that 3pm is the norm in Spanish terms. Local red wine was served in large earthenware flagons and the menu was mainly traditional mountain dishes of lamb, beef and pork.

At the other end of the Catalan Pyrenees from Vallter lies the largest of its ski resorts, Baqueira Beret. Situated in the Val d’Aran in the far northwest of the region, it has a reputation for being “posey” — perhaps because the Spanish royal family ski there — but it’s a sophisticated resort covering four linked mountains.

There are runs for all abilities including five tough blacks, excellent off-piste powder, giant moguls and near-vertical couloirs. The Scornacrabes — literally “the place where the goats die” — is not for the faint-hearted.

You won’t find hordes of British skiers here — they seem to prefer the nearby Andorran resort of Pas de la Casa, which has the unenviable reputation of being the best place in the region for an après-ski pub crawl. The voices I heard in Baqueira Beret were almost exclusively speaking French, Catalan or Spanish.

With its stone houses and fortified church, the village of Arties, between the valley’s main town of Vielha and the slopes, is an appealing place for a base. It has one of Spain’s excellent state-run hotels, the four-star Gaspar de Portola, as well as Casa Irene, a 22-bedroom alpine lodge. Its sauna and big fireplace are a welcoming sight after a long day on the slopes.

Skiing in Catalonia may not have the international cachet of the Alps, but considerable recent investment in lifts, snow-guns and infrastructure (£34m alone over the summer) means it has plenty going for it.

Skiing at several Catalan ski resorts and spending a couple of days off-piste exploring this beautiful region turned out to be the perfect blend to keep everybody happy — it’s just a shame we forgot the bucket and spade.

Details: Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) flies from Prestwick to Girona and Reus (near Barcelona) from £26.99. Fly with Air Scotland (www.air-scotland.com) from Glasgow to Barcelona from £140 return including taxes.

In Age, double rooms at Cal Marrufes (00 34 972 12 11 74; www.calmarrufes.com) start at £36. Apartments are also available from £72 per night based on five sharing. Mas Morer (0034 972 74 14 16; www.masmorer.com) in Abella sleeps four to five people. Prices from £75 (minimum two-night stay). Vall de Nuria (www.valldenuria.com; 0034 972 73 20 20) offers a range of accommodation options in the Nuria area. Stay at the state-owned Gaspar de Portola (00 34 973 64 08 01; www.paradores-spain.com) in Arties, where a double room costs from £75. The alpine lodge Hotel Casa Irene (00 34 973 64 43 64; www.innsofspain.com) in Arties has comfortable doubles from £72.

A selection of packages offering accommodation, ski passes and car hire is available for £110 per person at www.activitybreaks.com Information on all the ski resorts is also available at www.catski.net