Nature
Andalucia enjoys a varied landscape from the white snowy peaks of Sierra Nevada to the warm countryside of the Valle del Guadalquivir, going through volcanic areas of the desert of Tabernas to the leafy foothills of the Sierra mountain ranges.
The Andalucian coast, with near 900 Kilometres of shoreline, has beautiful beaches and towns, spread between the Coast of Almeria, Granada’s Costa Tropical, the Costa del Sol in Malaga and the Costa de la Luz of Cadiz and Huelva. It is bathed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea; the Andalucian coast has soft golden sandy beaches and many remote coves of clear warm water, with exceptional sealife.
The Doñana National Park, declared World Heritage in 1994, is the biggest ecological reserve of Europe and one of the natural jewels of Andalucia.
Flora
The most important cultivated area is in the Valle del Guadalquivir. Thanks to the river it is a very fertile agricultural zone, in fact it is the richest and most populated area. It is planted with crops of cereals, vegetables and fruits; vineyards and big olive groves in the dry lands; cotton fields in the irrigated areas, and rice fields around the marshes.
The largest natural area, the Doñana’s National Park, has a varied flora: reeds and rushes in the wetlands; big cork trees, pines, eucalyptus, scrub, rosemary, rockrose, lavender and thyme in the drier areas.
Andalucia also has large and varied mountain areas full of vegetation. Sierra Morena is a wooded area of cork trees, oaks, gall-oaks, mastic trees and bushes. The Sierras de Cazorla, Segura and las Villas, where the lush mountain flora coexists with Mediterranean plants, are famous due to the diversity of endemic plants such as the violets and geraniums of Cazorla. In Sierra Nevada, oaks, chestnut trees, maple trees, ash trees and yew trees grow and, on the peaks, conifers resistant to the cold of the icy conditions. There are also many aromatic plants.
On the banks of the Mediterranean, some arid areas (the plains of Malaga, Cabo de Gata-Nijar’s Natural Park) have poor vegetation except for tropical plants: small palm trees, banana trees, fig trees and sugar cane. In the province of Almeria, the important development of the modern techniques of irrigation and greenhouses have made the growing of fruit trees and vegetables possible in some of the most arid areas of the coast.
Fauna
The Andalucian fauna is one of the richest of Europe. The ten natural parks in Andalucia contain many species of animal life, some of which are protected whilst others can be hunted at various times of the year.
In the parks of Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y las Villas, live different animal species (wild boars, deer, stags, chamois, martens, wild cats, foxes, otters, trout, crayfish), birds and birds of prey (golden eagle, falcon). In Sierra Morena, the protected fauna (wolves, lynx, mongooses, imperial eagles, black vultures) coexist with deer and wild boar.
The Doñana Park is one of the best ornithological reserves in Europe. In its wetlands there are more than 150 species of migratory water birds that come pass the winters there. Ducks, geese, swans and flamingos nest on the numerous lakes, and the woods shelter deer, stags, horses, wild boars and Iberian lynx. The marshes of the Cabo de Gata-Níjar’s Park are also on the flight path of thousands of migratory birds.
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