Sierra de Gredos Regional Park (in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

"''Parque Regional de la Sierra de Gredos''") is a protected natural area 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 ...

, covering 86,397

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ...

s. The estimated population within the socio-economic influence area is 21,182. The law that declared the status of the park was published in the

BOE BOE, BoE or Boe may refer to: Abbreviations, acronyms or initialisms * Bank of England, the central bank of the United Kingdom * Bank of English, a representative subset of the 4.5 billion words COBUILD corpus * Barrel of oil equivalent, a uni ...

on July 22, 1996.

Location

The park, located in the southern end of the

province of Ávila Ávila () is a province of central-western Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered on the south by the provinces of Toledo and Cáceres, on the west by Salamanca, on the north by Valladolid, an ...

, in the

autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...

of Castile and León, contains a great part of the

Sierra de Gredos The Sierra de Gredos is a mountain range in central Spain that spans the provinces of Ávila, Salamanca, Cáceres, Madrid, and Toledo. It is part of the much larger Sistema Central of mountain ranges. Its highest point is Pico Almanzor, at ...

mountain range. Sierra de Gredos is the highest sub-range of the

Sistema Central The Central System, Spanish and pt, Sistema Central, is one of the main systems of mountain ranges in the Iberian Peninsula. The 2,592 m high Pico Almanzor is its highest summit. The Central System is located just north of the 40th parallel a ...

main range. The highest mountain, Almanzor Peak, which is high, is one of the summits towering around the Gredos glacial cirque ("'' Circo de Gredos''"). The area of the park includes territory that belongs to the next municipalities: El Arenal, Ávila,

Arenas de San Pedro Arenas de San Pedro is a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2006 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 6,682 inhabitants. Its seal Seal may refer to any of the following: ...

, Bohoyo,

Candeleda Candeleda () is a town and municipality located in the province of Ávila, in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2011 INE census, the municipality has a population of 5,213 inhabitants, making it the fifth large ...

, La Carrera, Cuevas del Valle, Gil García, Guisando, El Hornillo, Hoyos del Collado,

Hoyos del Espino Hoyos del Espino is a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2011 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 444 inhabitants. The area is located at an elevation of above sea level. Th ...

, Los Llanos de Tormes,

Navarredonda de Gredos Navarredonda de Gredos is a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2011 census (INE), the municipality had a population of 472 inhabitants. The area is located at an elevation of above sea leve ...

, Navatejares, Puerto Castilla, Santiago del Tormes, San Esteban del Valle, San Juan de Gredos, San Martín del Pimpollar, Solana de Ávila, Tormellas, Umbrías, Villarejo del Valle and Zapardiel de la Ribera. The most populous municipalities in the list above are

and

, both located in the southern slopes of the mountain range.

Ecology

The forested areas include extensions occupied by ''

Quercus pyrenaica ''Quercus pyrenaica'', commonly known as Pyrenean oak, is a tree native to southwestern Europe and northwestern North Africa. Despite its common name, it is rarely found in the Pyrenees Mountains and is more abundant in northern Portugal and nort ...

'', pines such as the

maritime pine ''Pinus pinaster'', the maritime pine or cluster pine, is a pine native to the south Atlantic Europe region and parts of the western Mediterranean. It is a hard, fast growing pine bearing small seeds with large wings. Description ''Pinus pinast ...

and the

Scots pine ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US) or Baltic pine, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-green leaves and orang ...

, and evergreen oaks such as '' Quercus ilex'' and ''

Quercus suber ''Quercus suber'', commonly called the cork oak, is a medium-sized, evergreen oak tree in the section ''Quercus'' sect. ''Cerris''. It is the primary source of cork for wine bottle stoppers and other uses, such as cork flooring and as the core ...

''. The regional park includes some local endemismic fauna like the subespecies '' Capra pyrenaica victoriae'', ''Microtus nivalis abulensis'', ''Bufo bufo gredosicola'' and ''Salamandra salamandra almanzoris''. There are also several mammals such as the

European otter The Eurasian otter (''Lutra lutra''), also known as the European otter, Eurasian river otter, common otter, and Old World otter, is a semiaquatic mammal native to Eurasia. The most widely distributed member of the otter subfamily (Lutrinae) of th ...

and the Iberian shrew, birds such as the

Spanish imperial eagle The Spanish imperial eagle (''Aquila adalberti''), also known as the Spanish eagle or Adalbert's eagle, is a species of eagle native to the Iberian Peninsula. The binomial commemorates Prince Adalbert of Bavaria. Due to its distinct “epaule ...

, the

cinereous vulture The cinereous vulture (''Aegypius monachus'') is a large raptor in the family Accipitridae and distributed through much of temperate Eurasia. It is also known as the black vulture, monk vulture and Eurasian black vulture. With a body length of , ...

and the

black stork The black stork (''Ciconia nigra'') is a large bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. Measuring on average from beak tip to end of tail with a wingspan, th ...

, and reptiles such as the

European pond turtle The European pond turtle (''Emys orbicularis''), also called commonly the European pond terrapin and the European pond tortoise, is a species of long-living freshwater turtle in the family Emydidae. The species is endemic to the Western Palearc ...

and the ''

Vipera latastei ''Vipera latastei'', known as Lataste's viper, the snub-nosed viper,Mallow D, Ludwig D, Nilson G (2003). ''True Vipers: Natural History and Toxinology of Old World Vipers''. Malabar, Florida: Krieger Publishing Company. 359 pp. . and the snub-nos ...

''.

References

{{Authority control Protected areas of Castile and León Regional parks of Spain Geography of the Province of Ávila Sierra de Gredos

Location

Ecology

See also

References