You are in Huelva

A Dream Destination: Huelva

Huelva is the capital of a province whose history changed the destiny of Spain and Europe, from the Phoenician seafarers to the first trips of Christopher Columbus. It is also an important tourist centre, because its coast line is wellprotected.

City Tour

In the city of Huelva you can visit, amongst others, the Columbus’ Monument, the emblematic squares of La Merced and Las Monjas’s, the Church of San Pedro’s, the Cathedral of Nuestra Señora de la Merced.

Huelva and Province

Huelva is divided into four perfectly delimited areas: the sierra, the mining area, the agricultural area and the coast. The Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche is a surprising area where you can find leafy woods, beautiful landscapes and towns such as Aracena, Aroche, Cortegana, Fuenteheridos, Jabugo, Zufre and the area around the Caves de las Maravillas.

In the mining area the stand of Holm oaks and cork trees coexist together with deforested areas. This county’s land has always cultivated Mediterranean crops, the vineyards are plenty and in the towns you will be able to find many cellars and wine cooperatives where you can taste the wines that have the prestigious wine classification of the Condado de Huelva.

Along the coast of Huelva, washed by the Atlantic Ocean, you can also find seaside towns, like Ayamonte, Isla Cristina, Punta Umbría, Mazagon and Matalascañas; the Doñana’s National Park and the Aldea del Rocio, where the largest mass pilgrimage in Spain is held.

Huelva is also the site of the Natural Park de las Marismas de Odiel, which has also been declared a Biospheric Reserve by UNESCO. Huelva is the Andalucian city that is most connected to the discovery of America, and you can visit the Monastery of La Rabida where Columbus planned his great adventure, or Palos de la Frontera from where the Caravels weighed anchor, captained and crewed by people from Huelva who sailed away to monopolize the trade with the Indias during many years.

Doñana’s National Park

The Doñana’s National Park is a protected area with one of the best Deltas of the world, vitally important for numerous European migratory birds that breed here.

Doñana is framed to the south by a line of 50 kms. of beaches ( to a large extent virgin beaches), the main road that connects Sevilla to Huelva to the north and the watercourse of the Guadalquivir to the east.

At the centre of this landscape of marshes, woods and sands lies the chapel of the Virgen del Rocio, meeting point of the famous Pilgrimage of Pentecostés gathering almost a million of people.

Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche’s Natural Park

The “Sierra de Aracena y Picos de Aroche” Natural Park is situated to the north of the Huelva’s province, it includes 28 different municipalities, therefore making it the second most extensive area of Andalucía. Two mountain ranges shape the park, north and south, separated by a central depression.

Some lime stratum break the relief and one can find extraordinary caves, for example the Gruta de las Maravillas in Aracena, or other spectacular areas like the Peña de Arias Montano in Alajar.

It has special weather conditions, with a lot of rain favoured by the special orientation of the sierras. This causes abundant vegetation, with large areas covered by pastures of Holm oaks, with cork trees and gall-oaks in the wetter areas. There are also large wooded areas full chestnut trees in the highest and coldest zones.

This big forest area has made possible the conservation of numerous and varied wildlife including the lynx, the marten and the genet, also many birds of prey like the short-toed eagle, golden eagles, booted eagles, black vultures and griffon vultures, and other exceptional birds like the black stork.

One of the main economic activities is focused on the breeding of livestock, specially, pigs, who take advantage of the abundant crop of acorns in the wide pastures of the Park. The chestnut grove represents one of the most attractive landscapes in the area due to its spectacular seasonal changes and due to extreme age of the trees.

The defensive architecture of the Park is also of interest. It was built, to a large extent between the X and XII centuries, by Arabs and Castilians during the battles of the Reconquest and also as a fortification network on the frontiers with Portugal, situated on the dominant points of the map to control the territory, it is now a valuable historical heritage.

Andalucia Destinations

Almería · Cádiz · Córdoba · Granada · Huelva · Jaén · Málaga · Sevilla ·