Peñalara Natural Park

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Peñalara Natural Park
  • Region: Madrid
  • Declared a Natural Park: 1990
  • Park surface area: 768 hectares
  • Towns and villages: Rascafria

Points of interest

Some history behind the Peñalara Natural Park

During the 1920s there was a plan to create the Guadarrama National Park due to its important ecological value. The plan never started though due to changes in government and the Spanish Civil War. The area was, however, declared a Natural Site of National Interest in 1930, with the aim of preserving the landscape from external attacks. Even with that protection, in 1969 the ski resort of Valcotos was built which occupied much of Peñalara mountain and the construction of ski lifts, small buildings, slopes and various clearings caused serious damage to the flora, fauna and the terrain.

During the 1980s, a project was created to protect the eastern slope of the Peñalara peak including the lagoons and in 1990, the Community of Madrid declared the area as a natural park of the Cumbre, Circo and Lagunas de Peñalara. From 1998 to early 2000 the ski resort of Valcotos that occupied much of the southern part of the protected area was dismantled, the ski lifts were removed and the old tracks were planted with Scots pine.

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Guadarrama National Park

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Guadarrama National Park
  • Region: Madrid and Castilla y León
  • Province: Madrid and Segovia
  • Declared a National Park: 2013
  • Park surface area: 33, 960 hectares
  • Towns and Villages: (Madrid) Alameda del Valle, Becerril de la Sierra, Canencia, Cercedilla, El Boalo, Guadarrama, Los Molinos, Lozoya, Manzanares el Real, Miraflores de la Sierra, Navacerrada, Navarredonda y San Mamés, Pinilla del Valle, Rascafría, Soto del Real. (Segovia) Aldealengua de Pedraza, Basardilla, Collado Hermoso, El Espinar, Gallegos, La Losa, Navafría, Navas de Riofrío , Ortigosa del Monte, Otero de Herreros, Palazuelos de Eresma, Real Sitio de San Ildefonso, Santiuste de Pedraza, Santo Domingo de Pirón, Segovia, Sotosalbos, Torre Val de San Pedro, Torrecaballeros, Trescasas.

Points of interest

Not without it’s controversy over the years (due to it conflicting with housing and other human development plans), the Guadarrama National Park project was finally declared in 2013.

Its aims are to protect the eleven different ecosystems present in the Guadarrama mountains, including the only Iberian examples of “high Mediterranean mountain”. There are almost 1,300 different animal species in the area of which 13 are in danger of extinction. The species of animals in the mountains represent 45% of the total fauna of Spain and 18% of European fauna. There are mammals such as deer (red, roe and fallow), wild boar, Spanish Ibex, badgers, several mustelidaes, wild cats, foxes, hares, etc. Iberian wolf also seems to have returned to the area after a 70-year absence..

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Serra da Enciña da Lastra Natural Park

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Serra da Enciña da Lastra Natural Park
  • Region: Galicia
  • Province: Orense
  • Declared a Natural Park: 2002
  • Park surface area: 3,151 hectares
  • Towns and Villages: Rubiá, Oulego, O Robledo, Porto, O Real, Biobra, Covas, Vilardesilva, Pardollán
Points of interest

The Serra da Enciña da Lastra Natural Park is a protected area that includes the surroundings of the Serra da Enciña da Lastra mountains and a limestone valley with steep slopes and cliffs, including the pena (rock) falcoeira , the Inferno valley (val do Inferno) and the penedos de Oulego (Oulego cliffs).

This area holds the the largest area of ​​oak forest in Galicia. The river Sil flows for about four kilometers along the eastern end of the park and in is damned to create the Penarrubia reservoir.

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16 stunning national parks in Spain to visit.

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San Mauricio lake Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici

Now that the Sierra de las Nieves has been declared a National Park, there are 16 stunning national parks in Spain to visit. Ten are in the Iberian Peninsula, four are in the Canary Islands and one is in the Balearic Islands. National parks are different to natural parks in that the area they cover is predominantly wilderness with less human impact in their history and evolution. Natural parks on the other hand are areas of outstanding natural beauty and biodiversity that have also been shaped in someway by human occupation, agriculture etc.

16 stunning national parks in Spain to visit
National parks on mainland Spain and the Balearic islands.

It goes without saying that they are obvious destinations for wildlife enthusiasts like myself but until one visits one or all of these parks it is hard to imagine the incredibly biodiversity of these areas located on the iberian peninsular and Spanish islands.

16 stunning national parks in Spain to visit
There are four national parks in the Canary islands.

I hope this article is of use and please share with your friends and family. Any and all comments are always welcome!

About Wildside Holidays: https://wildsideholidays.co.uk/about-wildside-holidays/

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