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Resorts & Excursions |
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Spain,
Resorts & Excursions Introduction: One of the most pleasurable ways to discover Spain’s natural beauty and abundant wildlife is to visit one of the National Parks. Walks, hiking trails and jeep excursions enable visitors to explore marshes and wetlands, coastal dunes, isolated mountain peaks and Atlantic beaches. At certain times of the year the skies are filled with migrating birds heading for North Africa and the parks are also the habitat of a wealth of indigenous flora and fauna. Special mention should be made of rare and endangered species like the royal eagle, the capercaillie (woodcock) and the Pyrenean mountain goat. The major national parks in mainland Spain are: Coto de Doñana (provinces of Seville and Huelva), Tablas de Daimiel (La Mancha), Ordesa (Huesca Pyrenees), Aigües Tortes (Lleida) and Montaña de Covadonga (Picos de Europa). Over the centuries, Spain’s indigenous and conquering peoples have left an indelible legacy. Cromlechs and cave paintings from the prehistoric period, temples and aqueducts from the Roman occupation, Romanesque churches, Moorish baths, mosques and fortresses, medieval cathedrals and castles, Renaissance and Baroque palaces, the modernist architecture of Antoni Gaudí and his contemporaries, as well as present-day masterpieces like the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao and the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia. For the purposes of this section, Spain has been divided into eight regions, which do not necessarily reflect political or cultural boundaries: Madrid, Andalucia, Ceuta & Melilla, Castile/La Mancha & Extremadura, Castile/León & La Rioja, The Northern Region, Navarre & Aragon, Valencia & Murcia and Catalonia (including Barcelona). Information on the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, both integral parts of Spain, are dealt with separately. |