Attractions & Activities
- National Parks - Malaga Mountains
Malaga Mountains
The park is located a few kilometres north of Malaga city,
in the river basin of the Río Guadalmedina, which flows
to the west of the park. Tributaries of the Guadalmedina feed
into it, running southwest, like the Arroyo de Don Ventura,
the Cañada de Guijarrro and Arroyo de Humaina. In the
northern part of the park are Arroyo de los Frailes, Arroyo
de Chopares and Arroyo de las Vacas. It is a region of dense
pine forest, which consists of 4,996ha. Its hills range from
80m to just over 1,000m above sea level.
The park is dominated by Aleppo pines, which were planted
in the Río Guadalmedina river basin by Malaga city
council in a concerted reforestation campaign, from 1930 until
1950, in an attempt to prevent the disastrous flash floods
that had plagued Malaga for centuries.
Deforestation of the original Mediterranean woodland began
in the 15th century when the Catholic Monarchs took possession
of Malaga and divided up the land. The new owners cut down
the native trees and replaced them mainly with olive trees
and grapevines. Major deforestation signalled the beginning
of a succession of catastrophic floods in Malaga, the first
recorded one being in 1544, and these continued until the
early 20th century. With the creation of the Agujero reservoir
and the series of reforestation programmes in the 1930s, there
was considerably less flooding.
Until the phylloxera epidemic ravaged the area in the late
19th-century, viticulture was the main economic activity and
the legacy of this can be seen today, in the lagar houses
dotting the Montes de Malaga. A lagar was a house with its
principal section dedicated to wine production. You can visit
a former lagar, now converted into a museum: the Ecomuseo
Lagar de Torrijos.
The park is rich in flora and fauna, with species of 400 plants,
90 birds, 27 mammals, 19 reptiles and eight amphibians being
recorded here.
Fauna
This is one of the few places in Andalucia with a significant
chamaleon population. Other reptiles include spine-footed
lizards, ocellated lizards and geckos. Mammals here are wild
boars, badgers, foxes, polecats, weasels, beech martens, rabbits,
wild cats and squirrels. Raptors can be seen soaring above
the hilly peaks, such as booted eagles, short-toed eagles,
buzzards and goshawks, all of which breed here. During migration
you can often see black kites, griffon vultures and black
and white storks. There are also barn, tawny and eagle owls.
Calandra larks, skylarks, crag martins, white wagtails, reed
warblers, cuckoos, goldfinches, green woodpeckers, lapwings,
partridges and quails are among the other bird species found
in the park.
Flora
The main trees in the park are Aleppo pines (pinus halepensis).
In the northern section of the park holm oaks (quercus ilex),
cork oaks (quercus suber) and gall oaks (quercus faginea)
- the tree species that were here originally - grow among
the Aleppo pines. Carob trees (ceratonia siliqua), wild olive
trees (olea europaea sylvestris) and cultivated areas of almond
trees can also be seen. Under the more mature pine trees are
areas of Mediterranean scrubland: lentisc (pistacia lentiscus),
dwarf fan palms (chamaerops humilis), oleanders (nerium oleander),
strawberry trees (arbutus unedo), myrtle (myrtus communis),
rock roses (cistus ladanifer, c. albidus, c.monspeliensis),
prickly junipers (juniperus oxycedrus) and aromatic plants
like thyme (thymus vulgaris), rosemary (rosmarinus officinalis)
and lavender (lavandula angustifolia) are among the vegetation
making up the scrubland beneath the pine and oak trees.
Access
The main entrance is at Fuente de la Reina, off the A345.
This road leaves the north east of Malaga city and climbs
steeply up the mountain with some hairpin bends. It then follows
the eastern border of the park. The other one is at Casabermeja,
take the A355 east in the direction of Colmenar where you
can take the A345 south along the eastern border of the park
where there are a number of entrances.
Cities and villages nearby are Casabermeja, Colmenar and Málaga
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