Pagoeta Natural Park is a park in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Mount Pagoeta is closest to the villages of Aia and Laurgain, and near the coastal towns of

Zarautz Zarautz (, es, Zarauz) is a coastal town located in central Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, in Spain. It is bordered by Aia to the east and the south and Getaria to the west, located about west of San Sebastián. It has four enclaves limiting the ...

and

Orio Orio may refer to: People Notable people with this name include: Surname * Baltasar de Echave Orio (late 16th century – mid-17th century), Basque Spanish painter * Shane Orio (born 1980), Belizean football player Given name * Orio Mastropiero ( ...

. The park features a park house, a museum, and picnic areas. Group guided tours are available.

Features

The natural park, covering an area of 2,860 hectares, was created by the agricultural activities of the village and differs from many parks for that reason. Instead of demonstrating only natural landscape, it shows the impact of human intervention in the environment. For example, installations remain throughout the park for making

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...

from wood and the water-powered Aborregi forge has been reconstructed. In addition to demonstrating historical practices, the park continues to display human intervention in the environment, with

reforestation Reforestation (occasionally, reafforestation) is the natural or intentional restocking of existing forests and woodlands (forestation) that have been depleted, usually through deforestation, but also after clearcutting. Management A debate ...

and the formation of an

exotic species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

. There are also archaeological remnants of the prehistoric occupants of the area, with

dolmen A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were somet ...

s, barrows and cave deposits.

Climate

The park has mild, moist temperatures year round, with an annual temperature average of 12 and 13 °C and rainfall exceeding 1,600 mm.

Flora and fauna

The park has large woods, colorful in autumn, featuring groves of

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

and

alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

. It is home to a number of species of birds, including the

citril finch The citril finch (''Carduelis citrinella''), also known as the Alpine citril finch, is a small songbird, a member of the true finch family, Fringillidae. For a long time, this cardueline finch was placed in the genus ''Serinus'', but it is appar ...

and the

water pipit The water pipit (''Anthus spinoletta'') is a small passerine bird which breeds in the mountains of Southern Europe and the Palearctic eastwards to China. It is a short-distance migrant; many birds move to lower altitudes or wet open lowlands i ...

. Among the species found there are

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

European wildcat The European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') is a small wildcat species native to continental Europe, Scotland, Turkey and the Caucasus. It inhabits forests from the Iberian Peninsula, Italy, Central and Eastern Europe to the Caucasus. Its fur i ...

, and marten.

Roe deer The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...

have been reintroduced.

External links

{{Coord, 43, 14, 10, N, 2, 10, 30, W, type:landmark_region:ES_dim:5000, display=title Geography of Gipuzkoa Natural parks of Spain Protected areas of the Basque Country (autonomous community)