Picos de Europa National Park

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Naranjo de Bulnes or Urriellu

The National Park Picos de Europa ( Spanish Parque Nacional de los Picos de Europa , Asturian : Picos d'Europa) is located in northern Spain in the autonomous communities of Asturias , Castile-León and Cantabria . With 67,455 hectares, it is the second largest national park in Spain and stretches over 40 kilometers from west to east and 20 kilometers from north to south. It is only about 15 kilometers away from the Cantabrian coast.

geography

The national park includes parts of all three mountain ranges of the Picos de Europa , namely the western ( Cornión ), the central ( Urrieles ) and the eastern massif ( Ándara ). The mountains are made of limestone that is heavily karstified . There are some very deep caves, including the 1589 meter deep Torca del Cerro .

On the north side the climate is Atlantic , on the south side Atlantic-continental. A Mediterranean microclimate can be found in places in the east and south-east. The annual precipitation is on average 2000 mm, the maximum precipitation falls in the period from November to January.

vegetation

Looking for wolves in the Picos de Europa

The colline height level extends up to about 500 meters. Agriculture is possible there; deciduous trees such as the holm oak and other types of oak , ash , summer linden , sweet chestnut , bird cherry or elm dominate the forests . The montane altitude range extends at altitudes between 500 and 1750 meters. Pedunculate oak , sessile oak and chestnut grow there . With increasing height, the oaks are displaced by the common beech . In addition to the beech tree, yew , holly , rowanberry , whitebeam , hazelnut and bog birch can also be found here .

Above, in the altitude level between 1600 and 1800 meters to 2000 and 2200 meters, is the subalpine level, in which trees no longer thrive. The vegetation consists of alpine grasslands , dwarf juniper , bearberry , the heather species Daboecia cantabrica or the gorse species Genista legionensis . In the alpine level above 2200 meters there are no more shrubs.

Wildlife

Pyrenean chamois in the Picos de Europa National Park

After they were almost completely exterminated by hunting in the past, the population of the Pyrenean chamois in the national park with around 5000 specimens is now again close to the limit of carrying capacity. The chamois have therefore been hunted again since 1995 to regulate the population. In addition to roe deer , red deer , red fox and wild boar , the Castroviejo hare , the European wildcat , the gorse cat , the otter and the Pyrenean desman can be found there. The number of wolves in the national park is estimated at around 20 specimens. Brown bears roam the area, but they do not form a stable population.

In the Picos de Europa National Park live golden eagles , griffon vulture , Egyptian vulture , short-toed eagle and eagle owl . The bearded vulture is sometimes observed and there is a project to reintroduce it. The corvids are very numerous, for example alpine crow , alpine chough , common raven and carrion crow . Among the forest-dwelling birds only black woodpecker , middle woodpecker and the Cantabrian subspecies of the capercaillie are mentioned. Mountain pipit , wheatear , snowfinch , wall creeper , alpine brownelle and red chalk can be observed in the high areas. The kingfisher and dipper can be found on watercourses . The occurrence of mountain newt and North Iberian adder are worth mentioning . A variety of butterflies can be found in the national park, including the rare Loreley thick-headed butterfly .

history

The Picos de Europa National Park is an extension of the Covadonga National Park established in 1918. The Covadonga National Park was the first national park in Spain. Originally, it only included the western massif of the Picos de Europa in the provinces of Asturias and León, an area of ​​16,925 hectares. Since the Picos de Europa National Park was established on May 30, 1995, parts of the Urrieles and Ándara massifs have also belonged to the area of ​​the National Park. In 2015, the park in the northeast was enlarged by a further 2,468 hectares in the territory of the municipalities of Peñamellera Alta and Peñamellera Baja .

Infrastructure

The national park is freely accessible and has visitor centers open all year round in Buferrera / Lagos de Covadonga (Pedro Pidal), Cangas de Onís (Casa Dago) and Posada de Valdeón (Oficina de Valdeón). The administration of the national park is based in Oviedo .

To the east of the national park, the Carretera N-621 runs from Unquera (Cantabria) to Riaño (León) . In the west, the N-625 connects Riaño with Cangas de Onis, northwest of the national park. The AS-114 runs north of the national park and connects Cangas de Onis with Panes. The national park or the villages in its vicinity are served by regular buses from Oviedo and Santander.

The high elevations of the Picos de Europa can be easily reached by visitors with the cable car from Fuente Dé or the funicular from Bulnes . Ten mountain huts are available for hikers.


and display information about the image
Punto San Glorio ( 1608  msnm )

proof

  1. ↑ a b c d Oriol Alamany, Eulàlia Vicens: Parques Nacionales de España . Lynx Edicions , Barcelona 2003, ISBN 84-87334-45-8 .
  2. ↑ Parque Nacional Picos de Europa: Seguimiento del rebeco en el Parque Nacional ( Memento of June 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive ).
  3. ↑ Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente: Se amplía la superficie del Parque Nacional Picos de Europa .

literature

  • Cordula Rabe: Picos de Europa. 50 hikes in and around Spain's largest national park . Bergverlag Rother, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-7633-4361-4 .

Web links

Commons : Picos de Europa National Park  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 43 ° 11 ′ 51 ″  N , 4 ° 51 ′ 6 ″  W.