The autumn of Spain

El autumn of Spain They are marvelous landscapes of ochre, yellow and brown tones. Faced with the exuberance of nature in spring, the autumn period offers us leaf fall, cooler temperatures and a melancholic air in the environment.

But autumn has nothing to envy in terms of beauty to other times of the year. It is the time when nature sheds its clothes and we can enjoy unique events of the animal world, such as the bellowing. For this and much more, we are going to propose a wonderful tour of the places where the autumn of Spain displayed in all its splendor.

Forest of Muniellos

Muniellos is located southwest of Asturias, occupying part of the councils of Cangas de Narcea e Ibias. It has an extension of almost sixty square kilometers and was declared Biosphere Reserve in the year 2000. Likewise, it is made up of three zones: the mountains of Valdebois and Muniellos and La Viliella.

But its heart is the Muniellos area, which houses the largest oak grove in Spain. However, it also has a wide representation of chestnut and beech trees, as well as willows, ash, hazelnut or birch. As for the fauna, it is an area for sighting Brown bears, Wolves y wild cats. In fact, you can hire a tour with specialized guides to learn about the habitats of these species.

You can also see in Muniellos birds such as the long-eared owl, the barn owl, the hererillo and the capercaillie. The latter is a protected species that is in serious danger of extinction and that, in southern Europe, is only found in mountainous areas such as the Cantabrian mountain range, Pyrenees to Alpes.

On the other hand, take advantage of your visit to Muniellos to get to know Cangas de Narcea. In this villa you have to see the Corias Monastery, called "the Asturian Escorial" for its large size, and the Collegiate Church of Santa Maria Magdalena, a baroque jewel that is a Historical-Artistic Monument. But also palaces such as those of Omaña, Toreno and Pambley, the second of which houses the Town Hall.

Irati Forest

It is another natural wonder where you can see the autumn of Spain in full splendor. It is distributed, fairly, between the Atlantic Pyrenees and the north of Navarre. It is framed by Roncesvalles and Orzanzurieta mountains to the west, the orhi to the east and the abodi saw to the south. You can access it by Ochagavía, in the valley of Salazar, or by Orbaicete, in Aézcoa.

With its more than seventeen thousand hectares, it is one of the best preserved fir and beech forests in the entire Old Continent, second only to the Black Forest of Germany. But these species alternate with birch, holly, yew or oak. As for the fauna, wild boars, otters, the Pyrenean desman, the gray dormouse or the deer abound.

Regarding the latter, as we told you, autumn is the time of the bellowing or heat, a sight to see. Males perform various ritual acts. Among themselves, they emit guttural sounds and clash their antlers as a show of power and to attract females. So much expectation arouses this natural phenomenon that they organize excursions to witness it.

Likewise, the Irati jungle is not the only place in Spain where you can see the bellowing. They are also propitious scenarios Picos de Europa in Asturias, the Sierra de la Culebra in Zamora, the Cabañeros National Park in Ciudad Real or cijara in Caceres.

On the other hand, do not leave this place without stopping at the aforementioned towns of Orbaicete y Ochagavía, with its farmhouses and traditional granaries. Also, in the first one you must visit the St. Peter's Church, with its Churrigueresque altarpiece, and the nearby Royal Weapons Factory. While, in the second, you must see the medieval bridge over the Anduña river; the Church of Saint John the Evangelist, with various Renaissance altarpieces, and the Romanesque hermitage of Our Lady of Muskida.

Jorda beech forest

We travel now to Catalonia to talk to you about another wonder of autumn in Spain. We talk to you about the La Garrocha region, in the province of Gerona. In it you can find the Volcanic Zone Natural Park, which is one of the largest concentrations of volcanoes in all of Europe. Not in vain, he counts thirty-eight cones in twelve thousand hectares. stand out among themselves the Croscat, the Montsacopa and the Santa Margarida.

But, in addition, La Garrocha offers you another natural wonder. we talk about Jorda beech forest. As its own name indicates, it is a beech forest. But the characteristics of these are unique throughout Spain, since they have grown on an old lava flow and more than five hundred meters above sea level, a lot of height for this type of tree.

In total, the beech forest occupies an area of ​​almost five kilometers and its main access is in the road that goes from Olot to Santa Pau, at kilometer four. However, you can only enter it on foot or on horseback through one of the signposted routes. Finally, since you are in the area, visit the towns of the region, which make up one of the most important medieval complexes in Catalonia. We talk about places like Besalú, Castellfullit de la Roca o San Juan les Fonts.

Gallocanta Lagoon, another wonder in the autumn of Spain

We now turn to the Autonomous Community of Aragon to show you another wonderful landscape that autumn in Spain offers us. We talk about what makes up the Gallocanta lagoon, between the provinces of Zaragoza y Teruel, already in full Iberian System. It covers an area of ​​almost two thousand hectares, although it has a peripheral protection zone of another four thousand five hundred.

However, the lagoon itself measures seven kilometers long by two wide. This makes it the largest natural lagoon in the entire Iberian Peninsula and in the largest saltwater of all Europe next to that of Stone fountain, In Malaga. Likewise, its average depth is seventy centimeters.

As for its flora, despite being an almost steppe environment, you can see common poplars and rowans, as well as pines, holm oaks and junipers in the mountains that border it. Halophilous plants also abound due to the salinity of the water. And, regarding its fauna, it is Special Protection Area for Birds, as it houses some two hundred species. Among them, vultures, eagles, hoopoes or cranes. But, equally, you can see foxes, roe deer, weasels, wild boars, rabbits and badgers.

Finally, do not leave the area without knowing towns like the one itself gallocanta, with its baroque church of San Pedro; Lathes, with the remains of its castle and the temple of El Salvador, also baroque, or Beautiful, with its Renaissance church of Nuestra Señora de la Natividad or palace houses such as that of the Marcos and the Cataláns.

Sickles of the Duratón River

We now move to the Autonomous Community of Castilla y León to show you another of the wonderful autumn landscapes in Spain. It is about the Sickles of the Duratón River, which are located northeast of the province of Segovia and make up a natural park. It is the canyon that this river has excavated in the limestone rock between the beautiful town of Sepúlveda and Burgomillodo reservoir.

The Duratón River runs almost twenty-five kilometers between the cannons, which reach, in some points, one hundred meters high. And, as if this beauty were not enough, in its final part it has given rise to closed meanders that give it a sinuous layout. The most used access to the park is from Villaseca, specifically where the balcony is over the sickle, next to the hermitage of San Frutos. On the other hand, if you want to enter through the aforementioned reservoir, you can do it from Navalilla Or from Hinojosas del Cerro.

Declared a natural park in 1989, it has more than five thousand hectares and home to the largest colony of griffon vultures in Europe. But you can also find golden eagles, kestrels, peregrine falcons and goshawks. Regarding mammals, it has hares, roe deer, wild boars, martens and badgers. However, another of its fauna riches is found in the waters of the river, with barbel, carp, trout or bogas from the Duero. It even has a significant population of otters. As for the flora, this wonder of nature is abundant with resin pine, juniper, juniper, willow, poplar and alder.

Finally, if you visit this beautiful autumn landscape in Spain, be sure to visit Sebúlcorwhere is the magnificent Convent of Our Lady of the Angels of La Hoz. It receives this name because it is found at the bottom of the Hoz meander. It was created in the XNUMXth century and is currently in ruins.

Sepúlveda

But, above all, do not forget to visit the beautiful Sepúlveda, with its impressive heritage of romanesque churches. Among them, those of San Salvador, San Justo, Nuestra Señora de la Asunción or Virgen de la Peña. But you should also see the Fernan Gonzalez castle, an old Arab citadel to which another building was added in the XNUMXth century. And we can tell you the same about the old jail and Houses of the Count of Sepúlveda and the Proaño, the latter with a beautiful Plateresque façade.

In conclusion, we have shown you some of the most beautiful landscapes you can find in the autumn of Spain. But, logically, there are many more. Among them, the National Park of Ordesa and Monte Perdido, in the Aragonese Pyrenees; the Faedo from Ciñera, a León; the aran valley en Lleida or the impressive Laguna Negra and Circos Glaciares de Urbión Natural Park en Soria. Dare to know these wonderful places.