National parks to visit as a family

Spain has a great variety of natural parks where you can enjoy this magnificent spectacle that nature offers as a family. Whether you want to spend the day or relax in a rural house, we offer you some suggestive ideas to get away from the big city both during the weekend and during school vacations.

Galicia. National Park of the Atlantic Islands

The maritime-terrestrial National Park of the Atlantic Islands of Galicia is located between the provinces of A Coruña and Pontevedra. There we find the archipelagos of the Cies, Ons and Onza, Sálvora and islets of their surroundings and the Island of Cortegada, Malveires and other nearby islands. It constitutes a natural and cultural heritage of undoubted scientific, recreational and educational value, for its fauna, its vegetation and spectacular landscape.


The beaches, dunes and rocky biotopes of cliffs and blocks stand out, as well as the abundance of algae species that serve as a support to the rich invertebrate community with the singularity that, since the transparency of the waters is very high, it is facilitated the passage of light to depths higher than what usually happens in other points of the coast.

As for the fauna, highlight the largest breeding colony in Spain of Cormorant shag, the presence of Arao, one of the rarest and most threatened birds in Spain, or an island population of Red-billed Chough. The marine fauna is also rich and varied, the area being an excellent breeding point for all types of fish and shellfish; The presence of dolphins and porpoises has also been confirmed.


Asturias. National Park of the Picos de Europa

Located between the Communities of Asturias, Cantabria and Castilla y León, the Picos de Europa constitute an area of ​​great geomorphological interest characterized by the greatness of its forms, as well as by the presence of natural enclaves of great beauty that offer a habitat for a varied and numerous animal and plant community, with their valuable communities of mammals (bears, wolves, chamois, wild boar, roe deer, wild cats, martens, weasels, stoats, otters, etc.) and more than 140 different bird species. The rivers that pass through the gorges of the Peaks, to run over living rock for much of its course, are clear and transparent waters, finding species such as the salamander rabilarga, the Alpine newt and the webbed, the red frog, the toad midwife or the common toad.


Canary Islands. National Park of El Teide (Tenerife)

Located on the Island of Tenerife, the Teide National Park offers one of the most spectacular examples of volcanism worldwide. The impressive volcano of Pico del Teide, which at 3,718 meters is the highest point in Spain, is located on an ancient and gigantic depression formed by two semi-sewers separated by the Roques de García. Chahorra or Pico Viejo has a crater of 800 meters in diameter and 3,100 meters of altitude, and the Teide crater is formed by 2 craters, the La Rambleta crater, 850 meters in diameter and 3,565 meters high. emerging in its interior, the Sugar Pylon, a highlight with its 80 m in diameter and 3,718 meters of altitude. The latter still shows residual activity in the form of fumaroles and solfateras at 86ºC.

Canary Islands. Timanfaya National Park (Lanzarote)

This National Park located on the easternmost island of the Canarian Archipelago, Lanzarote, reflects a volcanic landscape of capricious shapes and tonalities. At some points, as is the case of the central part of the Timanfaya and Rajada Mountains, up to 25 craters are aligned on a few hectares of land. On the other hand, it is possible to observe areas of new coastline by land reclaimed from the sea in the eruptions, as well as the morphologies resulting from the strong erosion to which the latter is subjected by the effect of the waves.

In the whole of the National Park the variety of plant species is high. With regard to the marine fauna of the coast, it is rich and diverse, with more than a hundred species of marine invertebrates and no less than fifty species of fish: red crabs, limpets, burgados, starfish, octopus, cuttlefish , brunettes, abbots, salemas, pejeverdes, old, etc.

Canary Islands. National Park of Caldera de Taburiente (La Palma)

Located on the Island of La Palma, the National Park is constituted by an immense caldera of 28 kilometers in circumference in the shape of a horseshoe (the only practicable exit is the Barranco de las Angustias, natural drainage of the numerous streams of the protected area), steep slopes of almost 2,000 meters of unevenness, and a network of streams and torrents that show a strong water erosion. The Park also includes the southern slope of Pico Bejenado and part of the Riachuelo Valley.This space also presents high interest geological discoveries, such as paddled lavas, basaltic dykes, agglomerates, rock formations, lava flows, volcanic cones and remains of explosive eruptions due to pyroclastic accumulation. The Caldera de Taburiente represents mainly the ecosystem of the Canarian pine.

Pomegranate. National Park of Sierra Nevada

Nestled in the mountainous massif of the same name located in the province of Granada, southwest of the capital, the protected area also extends to the western end of the province of Almeria. It has a relief of soft hills and little craggy peaks in some areas; in others very abrupt, dominated by ridges and ledges. Here are located the largest peaks of the Peninsula: Mulhacén (3,482 meters) and Veleta (3,392 meters). Since 1986 it holds the cataloging of the Biosphere Reserve, granted by UNESCO. It is the best natural botanical garden of the Iberian Peninsula.

The fauna has its maximum exponent in the mountain goat, very abundant in the southern slope. Among the birds are raptors such as the griffon vulture, golden eagle, Bonelli's eagle, short-toed eagle, booted eagle, goshawk, kite and hawk; in the wooded zones of average mountain the common pito, common agateador, common tit and claws, common blue tits, jay and common blackbird are frequent. Among the mammals include, in addition to the mountain goat, the wildcat, the badger or the marten.

Huelva Doñana national park

The Doñana National Park is a space of exceptional importance located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, between the provinces of Seville, Huelva and Cádiz. The uniqueness of this enclave is due to the biodiversity it houses, since in addition to the marshland the area has ecosystems or environmental units such as the beach, living dunes or areas of mature Mediterranean forest (locally called "preserves"), each of which contains elements and animal and plant species of great interest.

The marsh (humid area of ​​extraordinary importance as a place of passage, breeding and wintering for European and African birds) is one of the most outstanding ecosystems of Doñana; the one that lends it singularity and to which it owes its exceptional importance as a faunal station.

The beach, to the south, is the origin of the dune formations constituted by large stretches of fine sand that are piled up over the pine forests, thus forming one of the most spectacular landscapes of Doñana. The preserves represent the mature Mediterranean forest, while the areas known as "veras" represent the contact of the scrub of the preserves with the marsh.

Marina Berrio

Video: PROS AND CONS OF GLACIER NATIONAL PARK - A Family Perspective


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