Monfragüe National Park
Parque Nacional de Monfragüe
Monfragüe Reserva Starlight |
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Salto del Gitano |
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location | Cáceres Province , Extremadura , Spain | |
Area / extent | 178.52 km² / 35 km | |
WDPA ID | 4820 | |
Geographical location | 39 ° 49 ′ N , 5 ° 55 ′ W | |
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Sea level | from 220 m to 750 m | |
Setup date | 1979 Parque Natural , 2007 National Park , 2011 UNESCO Starlight Reserve (18,627 ha) | |
particularities | is located in the BR / ZEPA Monfragüe |
The Monfragüe National Park , in Spanish Parque Nacional de Monfragüe , also Monfragüe Starlight Reserve , surrounded by the Monfragüe Biosphere Reserve ( Reserva de Biosfera de Monfragüe ), also known as the Monfragüe y las dehesas del entorno bird sanctuary , is located in the province of Cáceres in the Extremadura region , Spain .
Location and landscape
It lies roughly in the middle of the triangle formed by the cities of Cáceres , Plasencia and Trujillo . The park area at the confluence of the Tiétar in the Tajo is 181.18 km² and lies 220 to 750 m above sea level. The predominant rocks in the area of the national park are quartzite and slate , the mean annual precipitation is 640 mm. The flora of the park is part of the Mediterranean hard-leaf vegetation and can be developed as forest, hut forest ( dehesa ) or bushes ( maquis ). The park is particularly famous for the many large birds of prey that breed there. The name should go back to the Latin mons fragorum (densely overgrown , impassable mountain). The only locality within the boundaries of the national park is Villarreal de San Carlos .
Creation of the park
Reserva de Biosfera de Monfragüe
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location | Cáceres , Extremadura , Spain |
surface | 1,161.6 km² |
WDPA ID | 901257 |
Geographical location | 39 ° 49 ′ N , 5 ° 55 ′ W. |
Sea level | from 218 m to 870 m |
Setup date | 2003 UNESCO Biosphere Reserve |
Zona de especial protección Monfragüe y las dehesas del entorno
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location | Cáceres , Extremadura , Spain |
WDPA ID | 555538164 |
Natura 2000 ID | ES0000014 |
Bird sanctuary | 1,161.629 km² |
Geographical location | 39 ° 49 ' N , 5 ° 56' W |
Sea level | from 220 m to 738 m ( ø 348 m) |
Setup date | 1988 European bird sanctuary |
Monfragüe
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location | Cáceres , Extremadura , Spain |
surface | 1,148.19 km² |
WDPA ID | 555523629 |
Geographical location | 39 ° 49 ' N , 5 ° 56' W |
Setup date | 2003 FFH area |
With the construction of the dams Torrejón (1966) and Alcántara (1969) and the filling of the reservoirs, the landscape on the banks of the Tagus was drastically changed. During the construction of the dam, the Torrejón-el-Rubio dam burst in 1965 . Around 1970 the reforestation of large areas with eucalyptus trees and pines began. For a planned paper mill at Navalmoral de la Mata, a few hectares of today's park area were leveled with heavy machinery.
The conservationist Jesús Garzón has been campaigning for the protection of Monfragüe since 1968 , and the 1970s were a time of dawn for nature conservation in Spain . Against this background, the area of today's national park was declared a Parque Natural on April 4, 1979 , i.e. a nature park .
Since 1988 a European bird sanctuary (ZEPA / SPA / BSG) has been designated in the Natura 2000 network in a wide area. ( ES0000014 , 116,162.9 ha).
In July 2003, the Natura 2000 area was declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO ( SPA25 , 116,160 ha).
In January 2006, the regional government proposed to the Spanish government to set up a national park. On March 3, 2007, the law establishing the Monfragüe National Park was published in the Spanish State Gazette and came into force, making it the 14th National Park in Spain.
In 2011 it was declared a UNESCO light protection area by the Starlight Foundation and has since been called Monfragüe Reserva Starlight ( Monfragüe Starlight Reserve , SF / 2011 , 18,627.0 ha)
History and sights
In the mountains of Monfragüe, prehistoric cave paintings have been preserved, the best known are in the Cueva del Castillo de Monfragüe ( 39 ° 49 ′ 43 ″ N , 6 ° 3 ′ 2 ″ W ). The Castillo de Monfragüe was built in the 9th century by Islamic conquerors, and from the middle of the 12th century it was used by various knightly orders . The castillo had five towers and two rings of walls. The ruins of a round tower from the 12th century and the restored pentagonal donjon ( Torre del homenaje ) from the 15th century have been preserved to this day. In the vicinity of the Castillo is a hermitage with a portrait of the Virgin , which the crusaders are said to have brought from Palestine in the 12th century .
In 1450, Juan Carvajal , the bishop of Plasencia, ordered the construction of a bridge over the Tagus. This Puente del Cardenal was built from granite blocks . For a long time it was the only bridge that crossed the Tagus in Extremadura and was also used by the herds of cattle on the Cañada Real Leonesa Oriental , which is called Cañada Real Trujillana in the province of Cáceres . The numerous travelers in the sparsely populated area attracted robbers. Therefore, Charles III. create the village of Villareal de San Carlos in the 18th century . Since the reservoirs flooded in the late 1960s, the Puente del Cardenal has usually been flooded and can only be seen when the water level is low. A new bridge was built nearby.
plants and animals
The Tajo and Tiétar are dammed into large bodies of water by dams. As there are numerous rocks in the vicinity, the living conditions for birds of prey are exceptionally good.
The national park is home to the largest black vulture colony in Europe with around 300 breeding pairs . You can also see the Spanish Imperial Eagle (12 pairs), black stork , griffon vulture (around 500 pairs), eagle owl , golden eagle (5–6 pairs), Bonelli's eagle (4–6 pairs), short-toed eagle and Egyptian vulture (30–35 pairs). A large population of bluestars should also be mentioned .
The Iberian lynx may no longer be found in Monfragüe, but the otter , wildcat , garden dormouse , gorse cat , ichneumon and red deer do .
The main components of the flora are on the Dehesas holm oak , cork oak and the Portuguese oak ( Quercus faginea subsp. Broteroi ). The rock rose bushes consist of different types of cistus such as lacquer rock rose and sage-leaved rock rose , erica species and the strawberry tree . Juniper ( Juniperus oxycedrus ) and pistachio species ( Pistacia terebinthus ) grow in the rocky areas . Black alder and European hackberry are mainly found along the river banks . The olive tree ( Olea europaea subsp. Silvestris ) thrives in warm places .
administration
The administration of the national park is based in Cáceres , the visitor center of the park is located in Villareal de San Carlos . There are free tours through the national park and Cueva del Castillo , for which registration is required.
Between 300,000 and 350,000 visitors are counted in the national park each year.
Web links
- Web del Ministerio de Medio Ambiente: Parque Nacional Monfragüe
- Parque de Monfragüe (tourist information, Spanish)
- Parque Nacional de Monfragüe (other tourist information, span.)
- Extremadura region: The vultures from the Salto del Gitano.
- Flickr: Photos from the Monfragüe National Park
- Travel report with many photos
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Juanjo Alonso: Rutas por los Parques Nacionales de España y Portugal . Pp. 46-58, Santillana Ediciones Generales, Madrid, 2009, ISBN 978-84-03-50841-5
- ↑ a b Web del Ministerio de Medio Ambiente: Monfragüe: Historia , accessed on November 5, 2016.
- ↑ Junta de Extremadura, Consejería de Agricultura, Desarrollo Rural, Medio Ambiente y Energía: ZEPA Monfragüe Y Las Dehesas Del Entorno .
- ↑ UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Directory : Monfragüe Biosfere Reserve
- ↑ Junta de Extremadura, Consejería de Agricultura, Desarrollo Rural, Medio Ambiente y Energía: Reserva de la Biosfera de Monfragüe .
- ↑ Ley 1/2007, de 2 de marzo, de declaración del Parque Nacional de Monfragüe.
- ↑ Últimas intervenciones en la cueva del Castillo de Monfragüe ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 13.8 MB)
- ↑ Thomas Urban , Geier gegen Geier , in: Süddeutsche Zeitung , December 12, 2018, p. 16.
- ↑ Web del Ministerio de Medio Ambiente: Visita virtual - fauna , accessed on November 5, 2016.
- ↑ Red de Parques Nacionales: Monfragüe: Centros de visitantes y otras instalaciones , accessed on November 5, 2016.
- ^ Ministerio de Medio Ambiente: Número de visitantes ( Memento of June 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive )