| Villages
Beas de
Segura, Benatae, Cazorla, Chilluévar, Génave, Hinojares,
Hornos, Huesa, Iznatoraf, La Iruela, Orcera, Peal de Becerro, Pozo Alcón,
La Puerta de Segura, Quesada, Santiago-Pontones, Santo Tomé, Segura
de la Sierra, Siles, Sorihuela del Guadalimar Torres de Albánchez,
Villacarrillo and Villanueva del Arzobispo.
With
its 214.300 hectares, the Sierras de Cazorla, Segura and las Villas Natural
Park is one of the largest Natural Parks in Spain. It is also a Biosphere
Reserve, a National Hunting Reserve and a Zone of Special Protection for
Birds as well as the most visited Park due to its great natural, cynegetic,
cultural and historical importance. With its rugged relief and heights
of over 2,000 metres, Empanadas (2.106 m), La Cabrilla (2.032 m) and Cabañas
(2.028 m), the Park is a succession of mountains, ravines, valleys, calares
and flat lands. Its mountainsare
the birthplace of the Segura and Guadalquivir rivers. During the 18th century,
its forests were used to build a large number of the ships in the Spanish
fleet, and an Admiralty being established here. Its most important economic
resources are based on the olive oil – sheep – wood triangle; to a lesser
degree on big game hunting and fishing, and especially on tourism.
Vegetation
This
Natural Park contains some of the richest vegetation in the whole of the
Mediterranean basin. Of the more than 1,300 species catalogued, 24 belong
exclusively to this area. Madrona,
lentisk, wild jasmin o sarsaparrilla. Gall
oaks,servales and box;
maple forests, melojares (groves of Quercus Pirenaica) andhazel
woods. To be highlighted, Ilex aquifolium, Tussilago farfara, Viburnum
opalus, Astragalus glyciphylos, Hepatica nobilis. Pine forests, both indigenous
and sub-spontaneous or repopulated, are frequent. Also salgareño
pines, junipers and sabinas rastreras (Juniperus Sabina), next to
fields of thyme. The unfavourable weather conditions (snow in winter, stifling
heat in summer, wind, lack of soil, etc) allow the presence of species
of high ecological value, amongst which, numerous exclusive endemic species
must be mentioned: Geranium cazorlense, Hormatophylla baetica, Aquilegia
cazorlensis, Erodium cazorlanum, etc., some of them endangered. Among the
great variety of flowers in the area we must point out the existence of
more than a hundred endemic species from Andalusia and the surrounding
mountains, among which we have to highlight the “Cazorla violet” (Viola
cazorlensis) and the “Venus’s fly-trap” (Pinguicula vallisnerifolia), for
their beauty and ecological importance. In the Botanic Gardens of the Torre
del Vinagre, next to the Reception and Interpretation Centre,most
of the trees in the park are displayed, grouped by associations and distributed
in height levels.
Wildlife
With
regard to wildlife, among its 36 mammal species, we must point out the
Spanish Ibex and some others, such as the deer, the fallow deer and the
Ovis musimon. Otters, genets, stone martens and foxes stand out among the
carnivores. Also wild boars, polecats, badgers and squirrels. The segureño
wolf became extinct in the 1930’s. Among the birds, we have to highlight
the golden eagle and the aguila perdicera (Hieraetus fasciatus),
vultures, kites, egyptian vultures, owls, barn owls, tawny owls, kingfishers
and blackbirds. A small reptile lives between the cracks in the rocks:
the wall lizard of Valverde, discovered in 1958 , a species that can only
be found in this area. There are unique insects. It has a great variety
of fish: common and rainbow trout, barbels and bogas (Boops boops)
are incentives for anyone who enjoys fishing..
Other
places of interest nearby
Tranco
de Beas reservoir, with the remains of the small Castle of San Miguel de
Bujaraiza. La
Bolera and Aguas Negras Reservoirs.
Lagoons
of Anchuricas and Valdeazores.
Fuente
Negra, Cañada Catena, Montiñana, Los Parrales, Fuente Higuera.
Bayona,
Fresnedilla and
El Robledo.
Coto
Ríos, Llanos de Arance, Fuente de la Pascuala.
El Yelmo.
Refuges
of elSaucejo and Cueva del Peinero.
La Hortizuela,
los Panales, Morajallinas and
Valdemarín.
Cynegetic
Park of Collado del Almendral.
The
Templar Castle and the Tiscar viewpoint.
The
Arab and Christian Castles of Cazorla.
Segura de
la Sierra Historic Artistic Site.
Source of
the Guadalquivir River in Cañada de las Fuentes.
Los Organos
Leap.
|
NKBV
hart voor het milieu
