extremadura – Page 2 – Mygeopark.com

One year to revalidate the title of Global geopark

15/02/201819/04/2018Posted in NewsTagged extremadura, geology, geopark, geotourism, spain, unesco, villuercas-ibores-jaraLeave a comment

The Council of the Geopark Villuercas-Ibores-Jara has recently establish new ambitious goals to mantein the title of UNESCO Global Geopark awarded in 2011. The current title will expire next year, so the Direction of the Geopark held a meeting in february to establish a working plan.

The main objective is to boost the participation of the population. The first step was to raise the Unesco flag in all the town halls as a “symbol of hard work and the strong consensus among the 19 municipalities located in the Geopark”, the president Charo Cordero said.

banderas geoparque — Family photo of the Council of the Geopark Villuercas-Ibores-Jara in Deleitosa. Photo: Diputación de Cáceres.

Apart from investing in constructing new interpretation centers and refurbishing rural roads and hiking itinerarys, the Geopark is utterly determined to rise its influence on social media and increase expenses in touristic promotion in order to attract more tourism after getting 34.886 visits last year.

Geopark place named the most beauty and good village of Spain

17/12/201719/04/2018Posted in NewsTagged Cáceres, extremadura, geopark, geoparque, guadalupe, pilgrimage, spain, villuercasLeave a comment

Guadalupe, in the heart of the Villuercas-Ibores-Jara geopark, has won the national contest “Luce tu Pueblo” being named “the most beauty and good village of Spain”. The second pilgrimage site of the country got the first place in an online polling organized by the chocolat chain Ferrero Rocher, rewarding Guadalupe an imposing Christmas illumination.

PLAZA GUADA — Installing the Christmas ilumination at the main square

KODAK Digital Still Camera — Interior of the Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe

The recognition comes after being announced this historic village of the Caceres province is going to become new member of the prestigious Association of the Most Beautiful Villages in Spain from 1 January 2018 on thanks its architectural beauty, cultural heritage, valuable traditions and natural enviroment.

BALCON GUADA — Popular Architecture. Traditional balcony. Light bulbs installed

The Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe is the crown jewel of the village. I have already wrote about it in “Guadalupe: an appealing Spanish pilgrimace place”. Tourists are not just astonish by the Monastery, but also the local gastronomy and the geopark Villuercas-Ibores-Jara. La Villuerca (1.600 meters high) and The Ark of Water are some of the must-see geosites just a few minutes driving or some hours hiking from Guadalupe.

Birding in the Geopark of Extremadura

18/10/201717/05/2018Posted in SitesTagged birding, birdwatching, extremadura, geoparque, photography, spain, villuercas-ibores-jaraLeave a comment

Birding has become the engine for the Villuercas-Ibores-Jara Geopark. The number of ornithological tourists who opt for birding in the Geopark of Extremadura, specially from center Europe, have risen for the recent years. This activity generates profits of 6 million euros per year in this region of Spain.

The first step for birdwatching around the Geopark is to know where to go and which species of birds we can see in that period of the season. That is why I called Henk and Lisbeth, a Dutch couple experts in birds, who settled in Berzocana eight years ago and run “Discover Extremadura”, one of the Geopark guides site.

I came over Lisbeth and Henk´s property in Berzocana to interview them. They live in a rustic villa overlooking the astonishing wall “Cancho de la Sábana” where usually nests griffon vultures and black vultures. Apart from their house, one small and discreet wooden cabin has been built there. It is a “hide”; a construction with just two seats inside and perfectly camouflaged with the environment to avoid being seen by birds. They have taken this photos from there:

The Geopark Villuercas-Ibores-Jara is an outstanding site for birding due to its vast territory and the variety of ecosystems – wetlands, steppes, dehesas…- where seeing the wider range of birds in Spain, more than 350 species.

Lisbeth photographing “El cancho de la Sábana”

Henk shows some images taken from one hide

Henk and Lisbeth´s vehicle

This is a video on birding in the Geopark from Canal Extremadura TV (subtitles in English):

Guadalupe: an appealing Spanish pilgrimage place

15/09/201719/04/2018Posted in Articles, SitesTagged extremadura, geopark, guadalupe, hiking, spain, villuercas-ibores-jara, virgin of guadalupeLeave a comment

It would be a deadly sin to be around the Villuercas-Ibores-Jara Geopark and not to visit Guadalupe. This holy village is the most important pilgrimage center of Spain, along with Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. Thousand of pilgrims get to its imposing Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe – especially on September and October- to venerate the image of the Virgen de Guadalupe.

My last visit to Guadalupe was on 8 September, day of Extremadura -the Spanish region where this village is located-. It is said that September 8th is “The Big Day” of this village due to the anual procession of the image of Santa María de Guadalupe throughout the basilica and the cloister of the Monastery of Guadalupe.

Apart from the Monastery, Guadalupe is an appealling touristic place where enjoying its picturesque streets, full of colourful plants, and its traditional food (based of pork products) with cheese and wine elaborated in the Geopark.

Finally, to complete the visit to Guadalupe, I recommend going up “La Villuerca”, the highest place of the Geopark (1.600 meters) or going for a hike to The ark of water, another geosite of wich I already wrote in this blog.

The Ark of Water, a journey back to the Middle Ages

21/04/201719/04/2018Posted in ArticlesTagged ark of water, extremadura, geopark, guadalupe, hiking, routes, spain, villuercas-ibores-jaraLeave a comment

The Ark of Water is an hydraulic construction dated from the 14Th Century. It is still operated with its original pieces and works to lead water to the Monastery of Guadalupe (Extremadura, Spain).

Although this instalation is not opened to visitors yet, the council of Guadalupe has already prepared a draft report that includes a touristic route inside the Ark. However, it is worth getting there due to the amazing landscapes that surround it. In fact, this place is one of the “geosites” in the Villuercas-Ibores-Jara Geopark.

This is my report on The Ark of Water for Canal Extremadura TV, the TV station of the Spanish region of Extremadura (subtitled):

PHOTO GALLERY:

LOCATION:

Drive along the EX 118 road until “Hermita del Humilladero” junction. Take the only rural road you come across. Drive carefully until getting to the next junction. Leave the car and keep on walking along a path for over ten minutes. The problem is that there are not any indication to locate the Ark of Water.

Roman vestiges, historic routes and more from Alía

10/04/201719/04/2018Posted in ArticlesTagged alía, biking, Cáceres, extremadura, geopark, hiking, spain, villuercas-ibores-jara, withkidsLeave a comment

The explorer team: four boys and girls, from 3 to 7 years old, and 5 adults. Destiny: Guadalupejo River, nearby Alía. We had to take two 4×4 because the rural road was not suitable for my berlina. However, the path is perfect for hiking and biking. After 10 minutes driving we got to the rest area called “Molino del Guadalupejo” (Guadalupejo´s mill).

This rest area is part of the Natural path of Las Villuercas, 60 km from Logrosán to the regional border with Toledo province. That route is the reminiscence of an abandoned and never opened railway from Villanueva de la Serena (Badajoz) to Talavera de la Reina (Toledo).

After hanging out at the rest area and playing with the kids by the river, we took an old and nearly vanished path downstream that led us to a roman bridge. The bridge is partly destroyed due to its disuse; however, it is easy to cross carefully. Undoubtedly, I could catalogue this place as one of the ten must-see sites in the Villuercas-Ibores-Jara Geopark.

The roman bridge is one of the principal attractions of this place along with the old mills in ruins we came across during the route. All of them tell about of the ancient story of Alía

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My Geopark, photos and Rock and Roll

03/03/201719/04/2018Posted in ArticlesTagged biking, Cáceres, extremadura, geopark, hiking, ibores, phothography, spain, tourism, travel with kids, villuercasLeave a comment

At last I had the opportunity of testing my brand new Kodak Pixpro AZ525 around the Villuercas-Ibores- Jara Geopark. As I am a newcomer in photography, this kind of camera “bridge” – halfway between compact and reflex- fits perfectly with my needs because enables me to practise easily with a wide range of functions (manual, automatic and Wi-Fi connection). The best of all is its price, significantly lower than the same category you can find of Canon and Nikon.

First stop, The Ibor River. I lost count the number of photos I took by focusing and defocusing. I really loved it. Focusing allow you to obtain powerful and meaningful photos, big deal better than pics with just good composition (Pic 1). Getting good results is easier with the 52x optical zoom of my camera. However, it was disappointing when I attempted the “silk effect”, which means getting the water to look misty and smooth. (Pic 2) It was impossible. A tripod is needed among others settings. I´ll keep on trying!

The following photos were taken with the automatic functions “Black and White” (pic3), the “Image color option” which emphasizes one color of the scene (Pic 4), the “Landscape mode” (pic 5) and the function “water reflections” (Pic 6)

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Finally, drinking a refreshing beer at one of the bars in Castañar, in which the time seems to stand still – both for its pieces of furniture and the regulars – was the best way to finish our photography trip. Good drink, company and the Rolling Stones sounding in the radio was a good end before falling back into monotony of our day to day in the city.

Photography route:

Sustainable tourism year launched from the Villuercas-Ibores-Jara stand at FITUR

20/01/201720/01/2017Posted in NewsTagged extremadura, fitur, geopark, ggn, madrid, spain, sustainable tourism, unesco, zourosLeave a comment

The Villuercas-Ibores-Jara geopark participation in Fitur -one of the most important tourism fairs in the world hosted in Madrid (Spain)- has been the strongest ever. Villuercas-Ibores Jara has played a central role in this edition because the Global Geoparks Network (GGN) has reported on its goals in 2017 from the stand of the Government of the region of Extremadura. The geopark is located in this region of the west of Spain.

2017-01-20-12-35-26_resized-1 — The Sustainable tourism presentation at strand of Extremadura at FITUR (Spain)

The GGN presentation was run by its president, Nickolas Zouros. He flagged up that UNESCO geoparks celebrate the International Year of Sustainable Tourism, and therefore they must make a significant contribution to sustainable development in 2017. At the same time, Zouros praised the people who «add value of a rich geological heritage» because «this is not only about rocks», he added.

geoparques_fitur_2017-e1484726626243_resized — Cover of “Geoparks” publication

Moreover, the spanish geoparks network took advantage of this event to launch “Geoparques”, the first publication that gather the 11 geoparks in Spain. The book offers a totally different way of tourism consisting on a mixture of the traditional rural tourism with the knowlege of the origin of the Earth.

To get a copy of the book:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5b5gfbc0p5fjoqq/revista%20geoparques%20ok%20ultimo%20opt.pdf?dl=0

The geopark Villuercas with kids

28/10/201625/04/2018Posted in ArticlesTagged Cáceres, extremadura, geopark, kids, spain, villuercas, villuercas-ibores-jaraLeave a comment

It is said that Villuercas-Ibores-Jara Geopark is a huge theme park on geology, archeology, wildlife and plants. I agree with that simile and I would add, for the relief of parents who travel with kids, it is also an immense playground for children.

ninoscoriendobw-jpeg — My son behind his cousin enjoying the nature.

My son´s passion when we spend the weekend in Alía or Castañar de Ibor is to go away the urban center, run around the dirt roads and observe animals. The time I spend in the countryside by seeing my 3-years-old enjoying the Geopark is by far better than go hiking or biking for hours alone or in company with others.

caminoguadarranque — The Geopark is an ideal place to go for a walk with children

Although this geopark is a newcomer, most of its geosites are safe. Hundreds of rural roads have been refurbished along with the improvement of signals and the installation of safety fences.

So, I recommend a visit around The Peña Amarilla and The Guadarranque´s bridge in Alía and the interpretation center of Castañar de Ibor. All the pics of this post were taken in my last visit to both places.

cuevapenaarailla — Peña Amarilla in Alía. Obviously you will not get into the eye of the rock with children, but the view from the lookout point deserves a visit.

senderopuente — Track located in the area of the Guadarranque´s bridge. Totally safe for going hiking with the family.

pasarelaalia — Brand new bridge over the Guadarranque river

mateotirapiedras — My son throwing stones to the river. We had a good time there.

accesocuevaprueba1ok — On our way to the Caves of Castañar de Ibor after visiting its interpretation center. It is always a delicious walk with all the tracks recently refurbished

Geodisea: the valuable heritage of the Geopark

07/10/201608/10/2016Posted in NewsTagged archeology, extremadura, geodisea, geology, geopark, ibores, jara, spain, villuercas geopark, villuercas-ibores-jaraLeave a comment

The second edition of “Geodisea” consists of 44 activities related to geology, gastronomy and cultural heritage in the area of influence of Villuercas-Ibores-Jara Geopark. All the activities are held in most of the villages of this region of Extremadura (Spain) from the 22nd October to the 6th November. Click here to see the programme (in spanish).

panoramicaguadalupe — The holy city of Guadalupe celebrates some of the Geodisea activities

I would underline three activities: The First Archaeological Congress (on 22nd October in Berzocana), The route called”Isabel La Católica” (hiking trip from Cañamero to Guadalupe on the 30th October) and a street market that shows the magnificent gastronomy you can find in the geopark (on the 5th November in Guadalupe).

cruziana — Cruziana located at the Cancho del Fresno reservoir in Cañamero

Searching fossils, cultural displays, folk music and live cooking are also scheduled. Undoubtedly, this annual event is the best way to know every place of the Villuercas-Ibores-Jara Geopark.

canchodelfresno — The Cancho del Fresno reservoir in Cañamero

For further information: geodisea@360ingenia.com or 0034 924367379 and +695557848