Guadarrama National Park

Guadarrama National Park (in Spanish: "Parque Nacional de Guadarrama") is a proposed national park. The project would protect approximately 370 km² of the most valuable zone of the Mountain range of Guadarrama (Sistema Central), located in the provinces of Madrid, Segovia and Ávila (Spain). This National Park would be the fourth-largest in Spain. As at 2008 there is no date for the designation of the Park, although some parts of the projected area already benefit from a lower level of protection, eg "natural park" status.

The Peñalara Mountain climbing society proposed in the 1920s that the Guadarrama mountain range (in Spanish: "Sierra de Guadarrama") should be declared a National Park. This project had to be put on hold until the beginning of the twenty-first century, when the Community of Madrid revived the project. The part of the National Park falling within the boundaries of the Community of Madrid has already been planned [ [http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2006/02/08/ciencia/1139410924.html 2006: presentation of the Guadarrama National Park] Spanish press report from ElMundo.es ] . The autonomous community of Castile and Leon agreed in principle to the incusion of part of its territory in the proposed National Park. However, delays have subsequently been experienced in creating the corresponding plan. It is reported in the press that as Castile and Leon is suffering from population loss, its government is reluctant to restrict development in land near Madrid, where developers show more interest than in remoter districts of the autonomous community. The reasons given by Castile and Leon publicly for the delays include the protection of the interests of traditional users of the land (including commercial forestry) ["El ladrillo contra la sierra de Guardarrama" El País 18 February 2008 ] .

The project tries to protect the eleven different ecosystems present in the Guadarrama mountains, including the only Iberian examples of "high Mediterranean mountain". Altogether, in the zone that will be declared National Park there are more than 1,280 different species, of which 13 are in danger of extinction, more than 1,500 native plants and 30 different types of vegetation. The species present animals in the future park represent 45% of the total fauna of Spain and 18% of the European. Between the vegetal species they honor the scots pine, the oak, the juniper, the oak and piorno, among other many. As regards fauna, there are many mammals such as deer (red, roe and fallow), wild boar, wild goats, badgers, several mustelidaes, wild cats, foxes, hares, etc.; many species of waterfowl in the reservoirs, and great raptors like the imperial eagle or the Eurasian Black Vulture.

See also

*List of national parks of Spain
*Sierra de Guadarrama
*Peñalara Nature Reserve
*Peñalara
*La Pedriza

References

* [http://www.madrid.org/cs/Satellite?idConsejeria=1109266187260&idListConsj=1109265444710&c=CM_Actualidad_FA&pagename=ComunidadMadrid%2FEstructura&sm=1109265843997&subMenuP=subMenuPresidenta&pid=1109266131080&language=es&cid=1142306795982 "La Comunidad concluye el proyecto del Parque Nacional de la Sierra de Guadarrama"] 2006 report from the Community of Madrid's Website, accessed September 2008
* [http://www.fida.es/actividades/guadarrama/mapa_porn_madrid(prensa).jpgOfficial map of the madrilenian area of the Guadarrama National Park]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhaBPGb0yJs Video of the Guadarrama National Park]