西班牙旅游手册の自然风光

N IN S P A I N ATURE... Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp:Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp 22/9/09 10:51 Página 1 2 NATURE IN Laguna del Acebuche. Huelva For a host of reasons, Spain possesses a remarkable natural environment.Linked to Europe by the Pyrenees and to Africa, by the Strait of Gibraltar, its coastline is bathed by two seas and an ocean, while its territory extends to two unique archipelagos, one afloat on the Mediterranean and the other, anchored off the west coast of Africa. In a word, Spain is a natural mosaic unequalled by any other country in Europe. Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp:Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp 21/9/09 13:36 Página 2 3 SPAIN Pinar de Lillo. León Sand dunes. Parque Nacional Doñana. Huelva Parque Nacional del Archipiélago de Cabrera. Balearic Islands Laguna de Fuente de Piedra. Málaga Autumn in Cazorla. Jaén With over 400 designated natural areas occupying a surface area of more than 2.5 million hectares, the protection of practically all the main ecosystems found both on the peninsula and on the islands is guaranteed. As it would be impossible to offer a description of all of them, the scope of this booklet has been limited to an overview of the natural areas existing in Spain today. Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp:Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp 21/9/09 13:36 Página 3 4 THE UPLANDS Flora. Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido. Huesca The Veleta Peak. Parque Nacional de Sierra Nevada. Granada Highland scenery, with altitudes of over3,000 m, may be enjoyed in the mountains of the Pyrenees and also in Sierra Nevada, at the heart of the Penibética Range in Andalusia. The Pyrenees might be seen as an open-air museum of the glaciers formed during the Quaternary. Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp:Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp 21/9/09 13:36 Página 4 5 Spain’s mountainous regions are dotted with glaciers, alpine lakes and tarns, cirques and moraines, telling of the relentless might of the ice by which they were formed during the Quaternary. The Pyrenees are clad in coniferous forests climbing the mountainsides until they finally make way for alpine meadows where chamois and other herbivorous species graze. Crystalline streams, waterfalls, rapids and rivers enhance the landscape while on the lower, shadier slopes, the pines and firs of the higher regions are replaced by beech forests. A number of designated areas are to be found in the Pyrenees, the most noteworthy being the National Park located in the province of Huesca, Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido. Spreading over 15,608 hectares furrowed by four spectacular valleys, Ordesa, Añisclo, Pineta and Escuaín, the park possesses all the characteristics of a natural, upland area. In the province of Lleida, Autumn in Valle de Benasque. Huesca Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp:Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp 21/9/09 13:36 Página 5 6 Valle de Añisclo. Huesca Parque Nacional de Aigües Tortes y Lago San Mauricio. Lleida Lago de Marboré. Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido. Huesca on the very axis of the Pyrenees, lies Parque Nacional de Aigües Tortes y Lago de San Mauricio, rooted in a granite substratum bearing the indelible mark of glacial action. Game and other animal and vegetable species forming part of the ecosystem are protected at reserves marked off all over the range: in Catalonia, Alto Pallars-Arán, Cerdanya-Alto de Urgell and Freser- Setcases; in Aragón, Benasque, Los Circos, Viñamala and Los Valles. Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp:Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp 21/9/09 13:36 Página 6 7 Cola de Caballo. Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido. Huesca Sierra Nevada. Granada Sierra Nevada, surveyed from an altitude of 3,482 m by the summit of the Mulhacén, is the highest mountainous region on the Iberian Peninsula. Unlike other alpine massifs, Sierra Nevada is characterised by somewhat monotonous, blunt contours, a far cry from the erect peaks of the Pyrenees. Nevertheless, this southern refuge also shows signs of glacial action in the form of lagoons and morainic deposits. Its main natural asset is its wealth of flora, with over 1,700 plant species, many of which are endemic. Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp:Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp 21/9/09 13:36 Página 7 8 The IberianPeninsula is replete with semi- mountainous regions which, while lacking the breathtaking altitudes of the Pyrenees and Sierra Nevada, feature sizeable massifs not only of great beauty, but also of tremendous ecological significance on account of their astonishing store of flora and fauna. THE SEMI- MOUNTAINOUS REGIONS Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp:Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp 21/9/09 13:36 Página 8 9 Parque Nacional de los Picos de Europa. Asturias Fungi. Muniellos. Asturias Brown bear. Asturias Of particular interest in this sense are the Cordillera Cantábrica, the location of Picos de Europa; the Cordillera Central, the home of Sierra de Gredos; the Sistema Ibérico, or Iberian Mountain Chain; and the Cordillera Bética. The Cordillera Cantábrica runs right along the Cantabrian Coast from the Basque Country to Galicia. Of medium altitude, this range reaches its greatest height on the massif known as Picos de Europa, where the National Park, Parque Nacional de los Picos de Europa, covers an area of 64,000 hectares. Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp:Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp 21/9/09 13:36 Página 9 10 Muniellos Beech Forest. Asturias Valle del Río Ibias. Degaña. Asturias Here, bears and wolves live alongside chamois and capercaillie in a setting of deciduous forests. All over the landscape, woods of beech and oak appear alongside other plant species, while herds of livestock graze peacefully on the pasturelands. This mountain chain boasts several designated areas of natural beauty, such as the Nature Park, Parque Natural de Urkiola, situated in the Basque Country in a rugged, limestone region perforated with caves and grottos. In the Autonomous Community of Cantabria, the National Game Reserve, Reserva Nacional de Caza del Saja, sprawling across the region’s western half to include Parque Natural de Saja- Besaya, has one of the Cantabrian Coast’s finest beech forests, the habitat of capercaillie, wolves, bears, deer and roebuck. However, within the domains of the Cordillera Cantábrica, Asturias is the region with the highest number of designated areas. Reserva Biológica Nacional de Muniellos is the zealous guardian of Spain’s primary oak forest, which shares its soil with large clumps of deciduous trees. The reserve is the habitat of most of the vertebrates found in these mountains. Other expanses under official protection in the Cordillera Cantábrica include Degaña, Cangas de Narcea, Somiedo Aller, Caso, Ponga and Piloña, not forgetting Ancares Leoneses, Fuentes Carrionas, Mampodre and Riaño in the province of León and Ancares de Lugo, in Galicia. Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp:Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp 21/9/09 13:37 Página 10 11 Lago del Ausente. Mampodre. León Source of the River Sella. León The Cordillera Central marks the end of the Castile-León plains, establishing an effective barrier between the two sub-plateaus. Its highest point is Sierra de Gredos, which is over 100 km long, with widths varying from 20 km to 30 km. The northern face drops in gentle albeit slightly irregular degrees to the moorlands of Ávila, situated at an altitude of more than 1,000 m. Quite the opposite occurs on the rugged southern face, where there is a sheer drop from the Almanzor peak, at 2,592 m, to the Tiétar Valley, at 400 m. These mountains are roamed by no less than 4,000 wild goats (Spanish ibex), looked on as the local emblem. Running northwest-southeast, the Sistema Ibérico is another typical example of Spain’s semi-mountainous regions. The broad spectrum of designated areas includes the Game Reserve, Reserva Nacional de Caza de la Sierra de la Demanda, swathed in superb Turkey oak forests and restocked Scots pine; the Reserve, Reserva de Urbión, equally attractive for its glacial lagoons and vast Scots pine woods; the Nature Park, Parque Natural del Moncayo (Zaragoza), an awe-inspiring mass of oak and beech groves, woods of holm oak and Swiss mountain pine and clusters of Scots pine, forming a border between the lowlands of Aragón and the tableland of Soria; and the Game Reserves, Reserva Nacional de Caza de los Montes Universales (Teruel), with its characteristic jagged teeth, or great rocky massifs jutting out from the earth in the form of practically Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp:Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp 21/9/09 13:37 Página 11 12 Valle del Cena. Los Ancares. León Naranjo de Bulnes. Asturias Mountain goats. Gredos. Ávila vertical walls, and Reserva de Caza de la Serranía de Cuenca, with countless hills and crags carpeted in pine woods. This reserve is the location of Rincón del Buitre, the site chosen to set up an experimental game reserve known as Parque Cinegético Experimental del Hosquillo y los Callejones de las Majadas. The nearby Ciudad Encantada, or Enchanted City, combines with the reserve to make up a limestone landscape where strangely-shaped rocks create, as the name says, an atmosphere of enchantment. Sierra Morena acts as a dividing line between the Castilian plateau and the lowlands of the Guadalquivir Valley. Blanketed in Mediterranean vegetation, this area of hilly woodland is the realm of holm oak, gall oak and cork oak, holding sway over mastic trees, laburnum, madrones and wild olive trees. The riverbanks are shaded by willows, alder trees and ash. These untamed lands, whose animal population consists for the most part of deer, wild boar, fallow deer, otters, lynxes and wolves, are the backcloth of the Nature Park, Parque Natural de Despeñaperros, named after the spectacular gorge carved out of a natural fault by the Despeñaperros Rivulet. This gorge is the main throughway connecting Castile to Andalusia. The list of Nature Parks goes on to include Parque Natural de la Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp:Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp 21/9/09 13:37 Página 12 13 Sierra de Andújar, encircling the Shrine of Nuestra Señora de la Cabeza, the patron saint of hunters; Parque Natural de la Sierra de Hornachuelos, featuring a fair-sized wood of cork oak and used as a major nesting ground by birds of prey; Parque Natural de la Sierra Norte de Sevilla, with a long mining tradition dating back to Roman times; and Parque Natural de la Sierra de Aracena y Picos de Aroche, with its dolmens and menhirs and the fascinating grotto known as Las Maravillas, where a gallery over one kilometre long may be visited by those eager to admire the cave’s myriad streams and pools. The province of Jaén is endowed with Spain’s largest designated area, the Nature Park, Parque Natural de Cazorla, Segura y las Villas, a huge group of mountains linking Sierra Morena to the Cordillera Bética, closing off the Guadalquivir Basin to the east. It is here that the source of the River Guadalquivir is found, along with the extensive reservoir of Tranco de Beas. Bespattered with enormous woods of pine and holm oak, Cazorla has one of the largest forested areas in Spain to its name, while nurturing an endless variety of endemic plants, such as the delightful violet, Violeta de Cazorla, and providing a home for a vast number of animal species. Cirque. Gredos. Ávila Ferns. Parque Nacional de los Picos de Europa. Asturias Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp:Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp 21/9/09 13:37 Página 13 14 Sierra de Cazorla. Jaén Peñas de Aroche. Huelva Sierras de Huétor. Granada Sierra de Castril. Granada The mountain ranges of Andalusia set the scene for the National Park, Parque Nacional de Sierra Nevada, at the highest point on the Iberian Peninsula. Among the major designated areas, Sierra de las Nieves, in the province of Málaga, is deserving of special mention. Situated in the natural region of Serranía de Ronda, its abrupt relief is grooved with deep ravines, gullies and gorges, such as La Caina, which has a drop of over 100 m. The massif is also scarred by innumerable grottoes, chasms and caves peering out onto spreading forests of Spanish fir. Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp:Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp 22/9/09 10:08 Página 14 15 Sierra de Grazalema. Cádiz Reserva Nacional de Cazorla. Jaén Sierra de Grazalema, the westernmost foothills of the Cordillera Penibética, lies in the north of the provinces of Cádiz and Málaga. Both on the surface and underground, the limestone range features several karstic phenomena. The majestic Bocaleones Canyon drops 370 m towards two cavities jointly known as Ermita de la Garganta Verde (lit., Hermitage of the Green Canyon). Grazalema, the rainiest area on the Iberian Peninsula, has the biggest forest of Spanish fir to its credit. The trees we see today are the remains of the great expanses of silver fir which were isolated when the ice receded in the wake of glacial action during the Quaternary. Last but not least, a few words should be spared for the Nature Park, Parque Natural de los Alcornocales, in the province of Cádiz. This group of medium-altitude ranges is covered in Mediterranean scrub vegetation complemented by stunning patches of cork oak, the largest collection of the species to be found in Spain. Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp:Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp 21/9/09 13:37 Página 15 16 The Ebro Delta. Tarragona Wetlands are essential habitats for the protection of aquatic birds and migratory avifauna, which use them for nesting, stopping over and wintering. Geographically speaking, Spain is ideally situated on the migratory route between Europe and Africa. THE GREAT Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp:Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp 21/9/09 13:37 Página 16 17 WETLANDS Parque Nacional de las Tablas de Daimiel. Ciudad Real Laguna de Gallocanta. Zaragoza Geese. Doñana. Huelva Spain’s principal wetland is the National Park, Parque Nacional de Doñana, in the province of Huelva. The park’s striking salt marshes provide refuge for millions of ducks and colonies of geese which head down from Northern Europe to winter by the Guadalquivir. However, Doñana has more to offer than its salt marshes and littoral lagoons. It is also of great value for its system of moving dunes on their relentless march inland and for its immense wealth of fauna. In addition to giving a home to endangered species such as the lynx and the imperial eagle, the park is known for its “aviaries”, old cork oak trees where, year in, year out, colonies of herons, spoonbills and storks come to nest. The Ebro Delta, covering 320 km2, is Catalonia’s largest wetland. Of prime importance in the region, it comes second on the Iberian Peninsula, after Doñana. Its scenery is almost entirely taken up by rice fields, first cultivated in the late nineteenth century. Although there is no shortage of fish, it is the bird population which reigns supreme, with over 315 recorded species. A birdwatcher’s paradise, the delta is visited by about 180,000 aquatic birds seeking refuge in Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp:Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp 21/9/09 13:37 Página 17 18 winter and by 30,000 pairs of mating birds. The Aiguamolls de l’Empordá, in Girona’s Bahía de Roses, consist of a medley of salt lagoons, fresh water pools, coastal dunes, flood plains, riverside forests and rice fields. Saved at the eleventh hour from urban development plans, they are now one of Catalonia’s key wetland areas. Another wetland region of note along the coast is the lagoon, Albufera de Valencia, girdled by rice fields and cut off from the Mediterranean by a belt of shoreline known as El Saler. Split off from the sea about 6,000 years ago, it is a major wintering area for geese. Further down the coast, in Alicante, we come to the Santa Pola and Torrevieja Salt Flats, subjected to commercial exploitation since time immemorial and separated from the Mediterranean by a narrow strip of dunes. The flats are visited by a host of different birds, including the colourful flamingo. Parque Nacional de las Tablas de Daimiel. Ciudad Real La Albufera. Valencia Aiguamolls de L’Empordá. Girona Bee-eaters Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp:Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp 21/9/09 13:37 Página 18 19 El Rocío Salt Marsh. Huelva Santa Pola Salt Marsh. Alicante The peninsula’s inland is spotted with other important wetlands, such as the Laguna de Villafáfila in Zamora, where steppe birds like the bustard and little bustard gather in great number and sizeable colonies of ducks and geese find shelter in winter. Between the provinces of Zaragoza and Teruel lies the lagoon, Laguna de Gallocanta, in the depths of a vast basin formed by the tectonic collapse of part of the Sistema Ibérico. The most valued fauna are the cranes, which use the lagoon and the surrounding fields as a courting and nesting ground. Numbers have been known to surpass 60,000. Parque Nacional de las Tablas de Daimiel is situated in the province of Ciudad Real in the heart of what is known as humid La Mancha, an extensive region blotched with inland lagoons and areas flooded by the rivers of Castile. This National Park, the smallest in Spain, has been in danger for several years now as a result of prolonged, low-water periods and the abuse of its underground waters for irrigation. An ambitious water recovery scheme has been put in place to save the La Mancha wetland and its bulrushes and reeds, Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp:Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp 21/9/09 13:37 Página 19 20 Doñana Salt Marsh. Huelva Laguna Honda. Jaén which draw thousands of aquatic birds in search of places to winter or stop over. Not far from Daimiel are the Lagunas de Ruidera, a chain of 15 lagoons starting off at La Blanca and ending 120 metres further down at the Laguna del Cenegal. The lagoons are separated from one another by natural barriers, some of which are crowned by magnificent waterfalls. Traditionally, the Lagunas de Ruidera have been considered as the source of the River Guadiana. The north of the province of Málaga is the location of Andalusia’s largest lagoon, the Laguna de Fuente de Piedra, whose prized possession is its flamingo nesting ground, ranking second in importance in the Mediterranean area and visited by as many as 12,000 mating pairs. By and large, Andalusia is well-blessed with lagoons and reservoirs: Zoñar, Medina, Campillos …, whose calm waters provide endangered species such as the sedentary duck, Oxyura leucocephala, and the purple gallinule with a place to reproduce. Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp:Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp 21/9/09 13:37 Página 20 21 Laguna de Archidona. Málaga Santa Pola Salt Flats. Alicante Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp:Foll NATURALEZA-Ingles.qxp 21/9/09 13:37 Página 21 22 Parque Nacional de Monfragüe. Cáceres Monte de El Pardo. Madrid Much of Spain is covered inMediterranean hilly woodland, consisting in the main of holm oak, cork oak, gall oak, wild olive trees, rock roses and heather. Although some of the natural spaces where this kind of vegetation is found were described in the section addressing semi-mountainous regions, it is in the Nature Park, Parque Nacional de Monfragüe, in the heart of the province of Cáceres, that the broadest and best- conserved range of specimens peculiar to the Mediterranean type of hilly woodland and scrubland grow. The park’s borders are marked by the Rivers Tagus and Tiétar as they flow along between two parallel mountain chains, whose slopes are classified into two types, sunny and shady, each with its own ecological characteristics. Accordingly, the slopes facing the midday sun are cloaked in holm oak and wild olive trees while the undergrowth is studded with rock roses. The shady slopes are overspread with cork oak, gall oak and madrones while their undergrowth is relieved by heather and laburnum. This area’s exceptional mine of natural wealth is re