Sierras Of Tejeda, Almijara And Alhama Natural Park

The Sierras of Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama Natural Park ( es, Parque natural de las Sierras de Tejeda, Almijara y Alhama) is a protected area in the Spanish provinces of Málaga and Granada. It contains the Sierra de Tejeda and Sierra de Almijara mountains.
The park is mountainous and is partly covered by pine forests at the lower levels, while typical Mediterranean vegetation is found higher up.
There is a large number of endemic species.

Establishment

The park was declared on 21 September 1999.
The park is designated "''Lugares de Importancia Comunitaria''" (LIC; Places of Community Importance) in Andalusia, "''Zonas de Especial Protección para las Aves''" (ZEPA; Special Protection Areas for Birds) in Andalusia and, "''Parque adherido a la Carta Europea de Turismo Sostenible''" (CETS; Park adhering to the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism).
The park was designated a Site of Community Importance (SCI) of the Mediterranean Biogeographic Region by the European Commission on 19 July 2006.
The Tejeda y Almijara National Hunting Reserve is part of the park.

Location

The Sierras of Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama Natural Park covers parts of the municipalities of Alcaucín, Alhama de Granada, Arenas del Rey, Canillas de Aceituno, Canillas de Albaida, Cómpeta, Frigiliana, Jayena, Nerja, Otívar, Salares and Sedella in the provinces of Málaga and Granada.
The park covers .
The park contains the Sierra de Tejeda and Sierra de Almijara mountains in the Axarquía ''comarca'' of the eastern province of Málaga and the Alhama ''comarca'' on the southwest of the province of Granada.
It does not include the Sierra de Alhama, which is further west.

Climate

The mountains have relatively high levels of rainfall, with highest rainfall in December, January and March, and lowest in July.
According to the Resource Management Plan (Decree 145/199 of the Junta de Andalucía) annual rainfall ranges from in Cacín, Almuñécar and Nerja to in Arenas del Rey, Alcaucín and Alfarnate.
Temperatures in the areas with marine influence, including Nerja, Almuñecar, Frigiliana, Cómpeta, Canillas and Otívar, range from .
Higher in the mountains the temperatures range from .
Further inland in the Alhama region they range from in summer.

Topography

The Sierras de Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama Mountains extend north from the Mediterrean coast, with peaks over .
The mountains contain deep ravines, steep slopes, sharp ridges and rugged crags.
The mountains form a natural barrier between the two provinces.
The peak of Tejeda (La Maroma) is high, and commands dramatic views of the surrounding mountains and the Mediterranean coast.
Other peaks are Cerro del Lucero at and Navachica at .

All of the park has the calcareous formations of the Subbética region, with marbles, shales, phyllites, etc.
The area is rich in quartzite and gneiss over 300 million years old. The most common rock in the Sierra Tejeda is limestone.
The Sierra Almijara holds one of the Spain's main sources of dolomitic marble.
The marble gives white and gray tones to the ridges and ravines.
The limestone has been eaten out by water to create a maze of fissures, depressions and caves, including the deep canyon of the Chíllar River, the Polje of Zafarraya, the Caves of Nerja and La Fájara cave.
The Caves of Nerja (''Cueva de Nerja''), with an entrance just south of the park, is a National Monument, as is the ''Sima de la Maroma'' (Maroma Gap).

The rivers and streams that drain the sierras to the south feed the Río Guaro, Río Vélez, Río Algarrobo, Río Torrox, Río Chíllar, and the Río Verde in Almuñécar to the east.
To the west, some of the streams feed the Arroyo de la Madre, which is lost in the Polje de Zafarraya.
To the north, the rivers ultimately feed the Guadalquivir, whose main basins are those of the Río Alhama, Río Cacín, Río Añales and Río Cebollón.
The Río Grande and Río Granada feed the Los Bermejales Reservoir.
The rivers and streams descend rapidly down the mountain slopes, with spectacular waterfalls such as ''Los Árboles Petrificados'' (The Petrified Trees), where limestone ( calcium carbonate) in the water fossilized ancient logs.
Elsewhere the waters have carved dramatic gorges, called ''Cahorros'' in the region.

The principal peaks are:

*

Flora

The name "''Tejeda" refers to the abundance of ''Taxus baccata'' (yew) trees in the past.
The southernmost ''tejeda'' in the Iberian peninsula can be seen on the route up to Salto del Caballo.
The yew was once valued for its medicinal qualities and its wood, and was used in furniture.
However, it was mostly eradicated because it is toxic to sheep and cattle.
The Sierra de Cazulas had the unique ''Pino de las Cinco Ramas'' (Five-Branch Pine Tree).
The headwaters of the Cárdenas River in Zafarraya have '' Salix fragilis'' (brittle willow).
In the dry landscape along the borders of the park there are olive trees and vineyards, and also '' Opuntia'' (prickly pear) bushes, ''agaves'' and '' Trachycarpus fortunei'' (windmill palm) trees.

Due to its isolation there are many endemic species of flora.
Notable flora include '' Buxus balearica'' (Balearic boxwood), ''Juniperus phoenicea'' (Phoenician juniper) and ''Ephedra distachya'' (joint pine).
Where the marble has been eroded into a fine gravel the trees are mainly pine species such as '' Pinus nigra'' (Corsican pine), ''Pinus halepensis'' (Aleppo pine) and '' Pinus pinea'' (Stone pine).
Other shrubs and woodland plants include ''Chamaerops'' (dwarf fan palm), ''Sorbus'' ( rowan), ''Genisteae'' (broom), '' Acer granatense'' (Spanish Maple), ''Rhamnus cathartica'' (buckthorn), ''Maytenus senegalensis'' (spike thorn), '' Cneorum tricoccon'' (spurge olive], '' Sorbus aria'' (white beam tree), '' Viburnum tinus'' (laurestinus), '' Cotoneaster granatensis'' (cotoneaster) and '' Adenocarpus decorticans'' (goosefoot).

Higher up there are remnants of the original vegetation.
The typical Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub on the upper slopes have trees such as juniper, ''Quercus suber'' (cork oak), '' Quercus ilex'' (holm oak), ''Quercus lusitanica'' (gall oak) and ''Quercus pyrenaica'' (Pyrenean oak).
On La Maroma the '' Quercus ilex'' (holm oak), ''Viburnum opulus'' (guelder-rose) and '' Rhamnus'' (buckthorn) give way higher up to ''Quercus lusitanica'' (gall oak) and traditional oaks and then to shrubands.

Common plants in the scrubland are '' Prunus prostrata'' (mountain cherry), '' Erinacea anthyllis'' (hedgehog broom), '' Astragalus granatensis'' (milk vetch), '' Echinospartum boissieri'' and '' hormathophylla spinosa'' (spiny madwort).
The dolomitic gravel and sand areas have been colonized by endemic plants such as the knapweeds '' Centaurea bombycina'' and '' Centaurea prolongi'', '' Saxifraga erioblasta'', '' linaria amoi'' (toadflax), '' Erysimum myriophyllum'' (wallflower) ''Anthyllis tejedensis'' (Kidney vetch), '' Hippocrepis eriocarpa'', '' Erinus alpinus'' (fairy foxglove), '' Silene boryi'', '' Pinguicula submediterranea'' (a butterwort), '' Hieracium texedense'', '' Aquilegia vulgaris'' (purple columbine), '' andryala agardhii'', '' Odontites longiflora'', '' Polygala boissieri'' (a milkwort

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