British holidaymakers flock to the nearby coast in droves, but this pioneering haven is less than an hour away – and welcomes more visitors
, the scenery couldn’t be more different from the golden coves and lively seaside towns. Pine trees cloak the hills as far as I can see.
More than 100 years later, the area is once again carpeted with trees including native Aleppo pine, holm oak, ash, maple and elm. It is now home to more than 120 species of birds including the golden eagle, goshawk, booted eagle and crossbill, 38 varieties of mammals and 1,000 species of plants.“He was a visionary,” says Fina Mora, the tourism development agent for the handsome gateway town of Alhama de Murcia. “Without the forests, this town, and many others, regularly flooded.
A handful of Spanish, French and English-speaking couples and families are enjoying the shady tracks on foot or on bikes, but otherwise the forest is ours. I hop in the car for a coffee stop at Hotel La Mariposa, around half an hour’s drive from the visitor centre. Just outside the boundary of the reserve, in the village of Gebas, its pretty gardens are a haven for butterflies, with far-reaching views of the Sierra Espuña range.
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