Atlantic Islands of Galicia National Park

The National Park Atlantic Islands of Galicia (Spanish: Parque Nacional de las Islas Atlánticas de Galicia = " Atlantic Islands of Galicia " ) is a Spanish National Park, which located on the Atlantic coast in the northwest of the country Galician archipelagos of the Cies Islands, Islas ons that islands Sálvora and includes Cortegada and some smaller islands. It includes 12 km ² of land and 72 km ² marine area. He is the only National Park in Galicia and was founded as a thirteenth of its kind in Spain in 2002.

Nature

The maritime and terrestrial ecosystem of the national park is characterized by the largest Spanish colonies of Mediterranean gulls and shags ( a cormorant ). The seabed lying within the park have a high biodiversity. To a large variety of fish, molluscs and crustaceans, algae forests and the presence of several species of dolphins. In botanical terms can be 200 species of algae and 400 different land plants establish. A special feature is the largest laurel forest in Europe on the island Cortegada.

History

On the islands there are traces of human settlement that date back to the Iron Age found. It also ceramics have been found from the Roman period. The islands were inhabited in the Middle Ages by the members of various religious orders. They belonged to the Catholic Church, noblemen were given a fiefdom and were attacked by invaders who used it as a base for their raids on the coast. In modern times, the islands were inhabited until the 18th century when they were abandoned by the population because of raids by pirates. In 1980 the archipelago was declared a Natural Park, it is also a bird sanctuary. On 13 June 2002, the designation of the area as a national park followed. Only six months later occurred on its shores, except on Cortegada, an oil spill caused by the sinking of the tanker Prestige. The National Park could be expanded in the future to the archipelagos Sisargas and Loberiras.

Islands and island groups

• The Archipelago de Ons forms and located in the Ría de Pontevedra archipelago. It includes the main island Isla de Ons, the Isla de Onza (also called Onzeta ) and other small rocky islets, in particular El Corveiro. In the summer season ons is approached from the ports of Marín, Cangas, Bueu, Sanxenxo and Portonovo out daily by boat.
• The Archipelago de Cies is an archipelago in the Ría de Vigo, which is part of the Rías Baixas is in the province of Pontevedra. The archipelago is part of the city of Vigo ( district of San Francisco de AFORA ) and is located at 42 ° 15 'north latitude and 8 ° 54 ' west longitude. In February 2007, the British newspaper The Guardian, the Playa de Rodas on the island of Monteagudo chose the "most beautiful beach in the world".
• The Isla de Cortegada is located in the province of Pontevedra inside the Arousa island. It is the largest island in an archipelago, which still includes other island groups such as the Islas Malveiras and the Islas Haro.
• The Isla de Sálvora is located at the entrance to Arousa, about 3 km from the northern mainland. It has an area of ​​190 hectares and rises at its highest point 71 m above the sea. The island is practically around rocky, with the exception of three small beaches of fine white sand.