National Parks & Nature Reserves

Spain has 16 national parks and over 1,800 other protected areas, covering about 30% of the country's surface. The diversity is remarkable — from volcanic craters to wetlands to high mountain glaciers.

The Most Important National Parks

• Doñana (Andalusia) — Europe's most important wetland at the mouth of the Guadalquivir. Wintering area for over 500,000 migratory birds. Home to the extremely rare Iberian lynx (Lince ibérico) — in 2002 there were only 100 specimens left, thanks to intensive protection programs there are now over 2,000
• Ordesa y Monte Perdido (Aragón) — spectacular Pyrenean gorges and limestone peaks (see Pyrenees section)
• Picos de Europa (Asturias/Cantabria/León) — Spain's first national park (1918). Dramatic limestone massifs just 20 km from the sea. The Cares Gorge, Fuente Dé cable car, and the Covadonga Lakes are highlights
• Teide (Tenerife) — Spain's most visited national park. The volcano Teide (3,718 m) is the highest mountain in Spain and the third-highest island volcano in the world. The lunar landscape of the Cañadas at 2,000 m altitude is surreal. At night, one of the best places in the world for stargazing (Starlight Reserve)
• Timanfaya (Lanzarote) — Fire mountains from an eruption from 1730–1736, which buried a quarter of the island under lava. The landscape is so Mars-like that ESA tests space suits here
• Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici (Catalonia) — over 200 mountain lakes in a granite massif of the Pyrenees
• Tablas de Daimiel (La Mancha) — rare wetlands in the middle of the dry Meseta
• Cabañeros (La Mancha) — Mediterranean savanna landscape with vultures, deer, and golden eagles

Special Features of Spanish Wildlife

Spain is home to animal species that are extinct in the rest of Europe:

• Iberian Lynx: The rarest cat in the world, only on the Iberian Peninsula. A comeback success story
• Griffon Vulture, Bearded Vulture, Black Vulture: Spain has the largest populations in Europe — the gorges of Extremadura and the Pyrenees are raptor paradises
• Brown Bear: Over 350 brown bears now live in the Cantabrian Mountains (recovery from only 60 in the 1990s)
• Wolf: The Iberian wolf (Canis lupus signatus) lives in northwestern Spain — about 2,500 specimens