Attractions & Activities
- National Parks - Malaga Mountains - History
The History of the Montes de Málaga
Due to the special geographical situation of Málaga
province, they have been many people who have passed through
these lands, such as Iberian, Celts, Phoenician, Greeks, Roman
and Visighots etc.
The low Andalusia was in the ancient world a paradise plentifull
in metals, cereals, milk, wood, honey and hunt; this was why
so many invasors came in.
Under the Roman Empire, because of the intensive use of cattle
raising, the agriculture and the timber exploitation, a 50
per cent of the woods where destroyed. With the entry of the
Caholic Monarchs in Málaga in 1487, the montes became
almost devasted, these lands over the conquered lands for
their cultivation, above all the vine, with the intensive
tilling it nedded, it made the area absolutely unprotected
of vegetal covering. The consequences of this lost, very soon
will be pointed out; since a great part of the soils of our
mountains are to be swept away by Guadalmedina river, towards
the city, so many floadings will be successively repeated
from the 16th century to the beginning of the 29th century.
In the 19th century, the freedom for cultivation is established,
so the vineyard are considerably increases. But in 1877 a
plague called Filoxera comes in and attack the vineyard, the
consequences were that the cultivation became almost destroyed.
From this moment the vineyard is substituted by the almond
tree and olive tree, for they did not need so much care. In
these years Málaga suffers successive floadings until 1907
when the Hidraulic Divition of Siuth of Spain was born, which
decided to built up the Agujero Reservoir, stopcock of Gualdalmedina
river. Later is written The Project of Correction And Reforestation
of the Basin of Guadalmedina river.
And it is in 1948 when the last 64 hectares are bought, carring
out the works offsetting up to the soil and the swing, choosing
the Aleppo pine species of rapid growing and adaptation so
as to unable the regeneration of the lost vegetal covering,
so further or giving way to the natural reforestation of the
autochthonous species. With approximately an area of 5000
Hectares, in July 1989 is declared National Park.
The nature of lands that constitute the Park are siliceous
argillaceous slates very erosive. It is rich in natural resources,
as the exploitation of wood, firewood, cork, cattle raising,
cynegetic, apicultural etc. The Park have climatic contrasts.
On the higher parts the clime is sub humid and on the lower
ones is dry. The annual rainfalls average is of 650mm. Its
vegetation is specially rich in trees as the Aleppo pine,
real pine, and Cypresses in the coniferous group and in the
leafy group stands out the holm oak, the coark oak. The gall
oak, the olive tree and the carob tree, without forgetting
the chenust trees, poplars, ash trees and willows. The shrubs
are represented by a long list of blackberry bushes, palmettos,
strawberry tress, lavandula partridges, turtledoves, cuckoos,
great tits, thrushes, thug doves, carboneros, whirligig beetles
and nightingales.
Other sopecies found in the Park are lizards, snakes, salamander
or toad, though the most outstanding is whitout any doubt
the menaced chameleon that founds here an optimum habitat
for its development.
|
History
Gastronomy
|
