Digital Project

In the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park and in its Peripheral Protection Zone, there are 58 species of mammals.&nbsp; The European Badger commonly lives in the supramediterranean floor meadow areas. The maximum protection status is held by the wolf. It is the only species of mammal whose conservation is a priority at the European level and it is currently expanding in the Sierra de Guadarrama. The Iberian Ibex&nbsp;was present in all the peninsular mountainous systems until the 19th century, but the Napoleonic Wars, cattle pressure and hunting reduced their populations to small groups.

Navacerrada The viewpoint is close to Las Guarramillas Peak and the summit of La Maliciosa Peak.

Cercedilla In 1984, the year of Vicente Aleixandre’ death, it was inaugurated as La Fuenfría Valley, the viewpoint after him.

Manzanares El Real At this point you can see the La Pedriza landscape.

Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera&nbsp;are&nbsp;the most striking, showy, and best studied order in the Sierra de Guadarrama.

Coleoptera is the most diverse order of insects. There are more than 10,000 species in Spain, among the 350,000 ones described worldwide. It is estimated that there are more than 2,500 Coleoptera species in Sierra de Guadarrama.

Podisma carpetana, is a grasshopper classified as extinction risk status at the Community of Madrid level.The Sierra de Guadarrama subspecies is the&nbsp;carpetana, and Sierra de Guadarrama is the only known habitat.

Recycle When you are spending time in nature, please remember to always pick up any rubbish you bring and to recycle paper and plastics.

Barbecues Don't have barbecues in the mountains because Spain is very dry and it could become a fire.

Plant Trees Planting bushes, trees, and flowers is important because it can feed and shelter animals. Also, plants provide oxygen for us to breathe.

The&nbsp;Navacerrada Pass&nbsp;is a mountain pass in the Guadarrama mountains&nbsp;in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula. In 1788, it replaced the Fuenfria Pass as the main route connecting the cities of Madrid and Segovia. La Bola del Mundo a mountain in the Iberian Peninsula. Peñalara mountain has the tallest peak in Sierra de Guadarrama.

La Pedriza is part of the southern slopes of the Guadarrama mountain range. In 2016, restrictions to protect the park were put in place and swimming in the natural pools is now prohibited.

La Fuenfria Valley has been used as a communication path over the centuries. The "Roadway" (La Calzada) is the eldest path from the Roman epoch. There is a numbered milestone series placed along the Roman roads to mark the distance every 1,000 steps, a Roman mile, about 1.481m.

In the National Park there are 43 trees catalogued as exceptional, according to the Castilla León and Madrid Autonomous Communities environmental regulations. Trees are considered exceptional when they have been able to survive throughout the years despite impactful environmental changes or conditions, such as climate change, logging, and charcoal usage. Within the National Park exceptional trees, the Barondillo Stream yew is estimated at 1,500 years old.

Barondillo Stream yew

Spanish juniper of Los Canalizos

Sledding Sledding is perhaps one of the funniest ways to enjoy snow. Sleds should be used with caution and with the right equipment, such as helmets and weather appropriate clothing.

Bike Routes There are several bike routes which will take you to some of the most interesting sites of the National Park.

Rock Climbing Since the beginning of mountaineering, the Sierra de Guadarrama has become one of the most important climbing sites in the peninsular center, where most of the best mountaineers and climbers from Madrid area have been trained.

Snowboarding It is becoming more frequent to use snowboards instead of skis to make descents.&nbsp;

Digital Project Sierra de Guadarrama

Enrique Tierno Galvan Getafe, Madrid 5th Grade

The Sierra de Guadarrama National Park and its Peripheral Protection Zone host 133 avian species having a regular presence sometime in the year, whether they are summer, wintering or standing species. The&nbsp;Black Vulture has the largest wingspan of birds living in Europe (almost 3 m from wing end to end).

There are 15 species of amphibians in the region. The common salamander is very abundant in the Peñalara Massif region, however, they are in declining due to disease.&nbsp;

Iberian Emerald Lizard&nbsp;

There are 23 species of reptiles. Among the 23 mentioned species, the Iberian rock lizard, the Iberian emerald lizard, and the common wall lizard distribution areas are limited to mountain environments.

From Madrid, you can get to Sierra Guadarrama via bus line 691 as well as the cercanias train C8 and C9.

Located in the Central Mountain Range, the surface of the park encompasses 33,960 hectares. The majority of its surface is covered by heights dominated by rocky outcrops, mountain pastures and shrubs. During the Roman Empire epoch, Segovia and Toledo were connected by a roadway called La Fuenfria Pass. Later this region became a common area for farmers to move cattle to fresh meadows. The pinewood forests are also integral for the logging industry in Spain. However, the most important role of Sierra Guadarrama is its biodiversity.

The Sierra de Guadarrama halves the waters of two different large river basins: The spring of the river Manzanares is in this Sierra and it is a tributary of the Tajo River which runs into the Atlantic Ocean. At the Peñalara Massif there are several wetlands with great ecological value, which is linked to the glacial activity of the last glaciations period. The Peñalara Lake (La Laguna Grande de Peñalara) is important due to its size and location at an extraordinary beautiful cirque. There are also other areas such as The Birds Lagoon (La Laguna de los Pájaros) and The Carnations Lagoon (La Laguna de Claveles), and numerous ponds and peat soils all over the region.&nbsp;

The Sierra de Guadarrama has a wide geological diversity, according to its soil composition and its origin with rocks as old as 500 million years.

The Quaternary glacier melted and gave way to Peñalara, large rocky formations in the southeast of the park.

La Pedriza is a particular mountain landscape, unique in the Iberian peninsula. Located in the Southern slope of the Sierra de Guadarrama.

The Sierra de Guadarrama presents high flora diversity due to its geographical location. This position has allowed the existence of transitional characteristics between the Mediterranean and the Euro-Siberian regions. The Sierra de Guadarrama has acted as a refuge for colder environments which had a wider distribution in the past and have disappeared from the neighboring territories. In addition, the Sierra de Guadarrama generates a high variability for climate and soil in a relatively small area of land, which results in the existence of a large number of habitats.

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