Sierra de las Nieves National Park

MALAGA – Finally a National Park in the mountains of Western Andalusia, a ‘hotspot’ for plant diversity.

MALAGA

– Finally a National Park in the mountains of Western Andalusia, a ‘hotspot’ for plant diversity.

The ascent of Pico Torrecilla crosses the different types of vegetation of the high Mediterranean mountains.

The curious blue broom (Erinacea anthyllis) receives names as evocative as … nun’s cushion, shepherd’s seat or “cambron”.

The Natural Park is a hotspot of botanical diversity in the Mediterranean basin with around 1,300 inventoried species.

In altitude extends a vast area of shared and public pasture, whose new vocation is the protection of the Mediterranean mountain.

Until recently, the collective unconscious relegated Sierra de Las Nieves to a second-class park (see note). This perception has changed a lot thanks to the requalification of the modest Natural Park into a flamboyant National Park, the 16th in the Spanish state, in compliance with very demanding scientific and technical criteria. Most interestingly, perhaps, this initiative was carried by the inhabitants, in particular with the aim of reversing a negative demographic trend and encouraging local investments.

 Note. Sierra de Las Nieves was a little known mountain. Its area of ​​just over 20,000 ha (200 km2) is modest compared to other natural parks in Andalusia. The declaration of the park was initially motivated by its floristic and geomorphological wealth, themes less “selling” than those of vertebrates. Moreover, Andalusia’s most famous Pinsapos forest is actually found in the Sierra de Grazalema, which has long “eclipsed” it. In the same vein, the summit of the province of Málaga (La Maroma) rises to more than 2,000 meters, and “shrinks” our peak. We can also mention the toponym, rather recent, since this territory was mainly associated with the Serranía de Ronda. Moreover, it should be noted that Andalusian natural parks generally bear the name of a small town which focuses attention and promotion (Cazorla, Grazalema, etc.). Ultimately, a young name, which has not benefited from active promotion until recently, the tourist industry having focused on the coast (which it has “sketched”), while the interior territories have been neglected and suffer from the loss of population.

The ascent of Pico Torrecilla crosses the different types of vegetation of the high Mediterranean mountains.

Sierra de Las Nieves, mountain in the province of Málaga, dominates the hinterland of the Costa del Sol and Sierra Bermeja. Its 1,919-meter-high (6,295 ft) summit, Pico Torrecilla, is the highest point in the Western Betic Cordillera. This laborious access area forms a triangle between Ronda (North West), Marbella (South) and Yunquera (East). The mountain also gives its name to a natural park and a township.

As its name suggests, Sierra de Las Nieves is the sister mountain of Sierra Nevada, which is covered with snow and frost, and whitens in winter, but also the white mountain of limestones that give birth to superb small rivers: Río Guadalevin, Río Grande, Río Génal, Río Turón and Río Verde. This source rock favors the genesis of karst formations, cliffs such as the Tajo de la Caína and cavities such as the Sima GEM (-1,022 meters), the deepest well in Andalusia.

The curious blue broom (Erinacea anthyllis) receives names as evocative as … nun’s cushion, shepherd’s seat or “cambron”.

In altitude, above the forests of holm oaks (Quercus ilex rotundifolia) and pine forests (Pinus spp), nestles on the north face an extraordinary forest of Spanish fir (Abies pinsapo), with massive candelabra-shaped specimens (Pinsapo de La Escalereta). Even higher up, another surprise: a veritable dehesa of Boissier oaks (Quercus alpestris) which extends over dozens of hectares and finally gives way to a very particular high mountain ecosystem of hedgehog heath.

The distribution of Boissier oak (Quercus alpestris) is limited to the high limestone mountains of the Sierra de las Nieves National Park, between 1,600 and 1,800 m.

The Natural Park is a hotspot of botanical diversity in the Mediterranean basin with around 1,300 inventoried species.

In altitude extends a vast area of shared and public pasture, whose new vocation is the protection of the Mediterranean mountain.

Spanish firs (Abies pinsapo) require high humidity conditions, which are present only in a shady situation in the Andalusian mountains.

Until recently, the collective unconscious relegated Sierra de Las Nieves to a second-class park (see note). This perception has changed a lot thanks to the requalification of the modest Natural Park into a flamboyant National Park, the 16th in the Spanish state, in compliance with very demanding scientific and technical criteria. Most interestingly, perhaps, this initiative was carried by the inhabitants, in particular with the aim of reversing a negative demographic trend and encouraging local investments.