The government of President Mauricio Macri, which claims ownership of the land currently being used by Argentina’s military, has appealed the ruling.

Judge María José Sarmiento ordered the lands to be transferred within 60 days to the National Institute for Indigenous Affairs to administer the lands on behalf of the Mapuche community of Trypay Antú.

Bariloche is an area of outstanding natural beauty some 1,800 kilometres (1,120 miles) southeast of Buenos Aires, with skiing, hiking, mountaineering, and other outdoor activities drawing tourists from around the world.

The lands awarded to the Mapuche include the religious pilgrimage site of the Virgen de las Nieves.

The centre-right government and a radicalised fringe of the Mapuche have long been in conflict over ancestral land rights in Argentina.

Tensions increased last year after allegations of police involvement in the disappearance of an activist during a Mapuche protest. Santiago Maldonado, 27, was found dead some weeks later.

The Mapuche are considered the earliest inhabitants of parts of Argentina and Chile. They were famously hard fighters.

Their numbers were reduced after the Spanish conquest and subsequent independence. They have since pursued historical claims against the authorities for territory and rights.

A small Mapuche community in Chubut Province, in Patagonia, is claiming territory in an area of land bought by Italian fashion magnate Luciano Benetton two decades ago.

Around 120,000 Mapuches are part of organised communities in Argentina. Studies have calculated around 600,000 of Argentina’s 43.8 million population are of Mapuche descent.