Serranía Celtibérica
The geographical term Serranía Celtibérica ("Celtiberian mountainous country") describes a mountainous and almost deserted area in northeastern Spain , which is also known as "Spanish Lapland" (Laponia española) . The Serranía Celtibérica is one of the less-favored mountain areas recognized by the European Union .
geography
location
The area of the approx. 800 to 1300 m high (individual mountains reach heights of up to approx. 2500 m ) and in winter very cold and desolate Serranía Celtibérica is almost congruent with the Iberian Mountains and covers an area of about 65,500 km². It extends over parts of the provinces of La Rioja , Burgos , Soria , Segovia , Guadalajara and Cuenca or Saragossa , Teruel , Castellón and Valencia, which formerly belonged to the kingdoms of Castile and Aragón .
Waters
In the rain-poor area (approx. 400 to 600 mm / year) of the Serranía Celtibérica there are very few rivers or - in summer anyway - creeks and no natural lakes. However, both the Tajo and the Duero have their source in the Iberian Mountains and the Río Turia , which flows into the Mediterranean near Valencia , has its origin here.
population
Only 4 cities with more than 20,000 inhabitants ( Soria , Cuenca , Teruel and Calatayud ) are located within the area, which has a total of only 450,000 inhabitants and is extremely sparsely populated with an average of less than 8 people per square kilometer. At the beginning of the 20th century there were still more than 2000 independent villages or communities ( municipios ) ; at the beginning of the 21st century the number had dropped to about 1,300, but many of them due to the mechanization of agriculture and the resulting labor shortage of space in the second half of the 20th century by a strong and sustained population loss (despoblación) were affected and only still have fewer than 100 inhabitants.
history
The already almost deserted areas of the Serranía Celtibérica were from the onslaught of the Moors in the 8th / 9th. Century hardly affected. Originally, the area was primarily used as a summer pasture for herds of sheep and goats; Only after people had settled in the valley were the floors of the valley cleared of stones and made arable, and fields were also used for self-sufficiency . Most places were not settled until the 10th to 12th centuries; Numerous remarkable Romanesque church buildings and castle ruins (castillos) (e.g. in Caracena , Soria ) bear witness to this period.
