Montes De Malaga, Inland Costa Del Sol, Andalucia, Spain

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Montes De Malaga

(The Malaga Mountains Natural Park)

To the north of the city of Malaga, Inland Costa Del Sol, Andalucia, Spain, stands the Malaga Mountains Natural Park (Parque Natural Montes de Málaga). Rich in vegetation and fauna, it is better known for its country restaurants serving cured meats, local wines or those from neighbouring villages, and the typical mountain dish of French fries or breadcrumbs with spicy pork sausage and eggs. The Verdiales dance festivals are generally held here. The Park is located in an area of abundant mountain streams ranging in altitude between 91 and 1,031 metres above sea level and covers 4,762 hectares. Its unusual landscape of hills and the small valleys which have formed between them, normally populated by pine trees, confer upon the area a special beauty rarely found in other mountainous regions.

Flora
Most of the area is occupied by Aleppo pine reafforestation. In the north, Aleppo pines coexist alongside holm oaks, cork oaks and gall oaks, Mediterranean species which were abundant here before their numbers dramatically dwindled. Also to be found are the lentisk, carob, kermes oak, madronno, olive and almond tree, as well as other conifers such as the umbrella pine and Monterrey pine.

Fauna
This is one of the few enclaves where the chameleon is still to be found. The polecat, weasel, wild cat, marten and wild boar also inhabit the area. Worthy of special mention among the mountains’ many birds of prey are the Hieraetus pennatus, sparrow hawk, snake and mouse eagles, goshawk and golden eagle. The most characteristic animal species are the genet, badger, fox, polecat and weasel, in addition to a considerable number of long-tailed species.

History

Under the Roman Empire, because of the intensive use of cattle raising, the agriculture and the timber exploitation,  50 per cent of the woods were destroyed. With the entry of the Catholic Monarchs in Málaga in 1487, the Montes became almost devasted, cultivation, above all the vine with the intensive tilling it needed, made the area absolutely unprotected of vegetal covering. The consequences of this loss, very soon will be pointed out. Since a great part of the soil of these mountains were swept away by Guadalmedina river, towards the city, and there were many floods  from the 16th century to the beginning of the 19th century. In the 19th century, the freedom for cultivation is established, so the vineyards are considerably increased. But in 1877 a plague called Filoxera came and attacked the vineyards, the consequences being that the cultivation became almost destroyed. From this moment the vineyard was substituted by almond and olive trees, for they did not need so much care. In these years Málaga suffered successive flooding until 1907 when the Hydraulic Division of South of Spain was born. It decided to build the Agujero Reservoir, stopcock of Gualdalmedina river.

In 1948 the last 64 hectares were bought and the Aleppo pine was planted to help regenerate the forest. In July 1989, approximately 5000 hectares was declared to be a National Park.

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