History of Natural Park Los Alcornocales

The Natural Park of the Cork oak groves extends throughout 170,025 hectares of land, to the east of the province of Cadiz and to the west of the one of Malaga. The characteristics most characteristic of their
geography are the calls "internodes", a series of narrow fluvial valleys that are concentrated in the southern end of the Park. As its own name indicates, the most abundant species in the vegetation of the
Natural Park, is the cork oak, that occupies extensive land areas forming the more extensive Mediterranean forests of Europe and being the species protagonist of the landscape. Also they proliferate
quejigo, acebuche, the palmito, hojaranzo, (rododendro), the elm tree, zarzaparrilla, the white elm tree, Rebollo and brezos, madroños, arrayanes, durillos, etc...

IIn the zone denominated by the internodes a microclimate forms that has caused the maintenance of a vegetation relicta of the forest of Laurisilva coming from the Tertiary one and which it is formed by species like rododendro, the alder, the laurel, the ash, avellanillo, the holly, rusco and several types of fern, some of them of enormous botanical interest. On the other hand, in summits the height scrub only occurs because the East wind prevents the development of trees.

The fauna of the Natural Park of the Cork oak groves is of great wealth and variety, emphasizing between the ungulados mammals the red deer and corzo and between the predators the fox, the gineta, meloncillo, the otter, the ferret, the weasel, the wild cat and tejón.

As far as the birds, it is necessary to say that an important population of rapaces exists, headed by the eagles: culebrera, perdicera, road, imperial and real next to species of real owl, the common hawk, the egyptian vulture, you embarrass them,
sparrowhawks and one of the greater concentrations of leonado vulture. The insectivorous birds are represented by petirrojo, chochín, the myth, and herrerillo; the insectivora by the ruiseñor, the bee-eater,
the wanderer and the billhook.