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Travellers' Nature Guides: Spain
published by Oxford University Press in 2003
ISBN 0-19-850435-7
Click here for species mentioned in the text
Buy this book from Amazon.co.uk
"Spain is linked inextricably in many people's minds with sun-drenched beaches, manicured golf-courses,
paella and sherry, and the ideal package holiday. Dig a little deeper and you might find images of black
fighting bulls, azulejos (painted ceramic tiles), flamenco dancers, Don Quixote, Velázquez or Salvador
Dalí, and yet there is so much more to this southwest European enclave than the glossy tourist brochures
would have us believe. Spain harbours snow-capped mountains in excess of 3,000m, ancient deciduous
forests that are home to bear and capercaillie, the unique wood-pasture known as dehesa that is the
destination of thousands of cranes each winter, arid pseudosteppes populated by stately great bustards
and whirring sandgrouse, and mighty rivers terminating in coastal estuaries and deltas teeming with waterbirds, not forgetting the
Balearic archipelago, adrift in the azure Mediterranean, harbouring a unique flora and prolific seabird
colonies. And when you consider that this diversity of habitats contains more than 7000 species of
vascular plant, 85 native terrestrial mammals, 500-odd birds cited in the past century, 70 native
herptiles and 227 butterflies - with a high level of endemism in most groups - it is clear that
Spain is home to a wealth of flora and fauna unrivalled in western Europe today."
The main objective of this indispensable guide for the travelling naturalist is to describe the best places
to see wildlife in Spain. Following the Overview, which gives background information about geography,
climate, history, habitats and vegetation, and Spain's flora and fauna, it is divided into nine chapters
covering mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands, with an additional chapter dedicated to sites shared
with Portugal. The 158 principal entries describe the habitats, animals and plants of Spain's most
important wildlife refuges and protected areas, as well as giving information about access, with an
additional 200-plus short entries indicating other sites of interest in the area.
Paperback; 463 pages, with colour photographs, line drawings and maps.
Contents
- Overview
- Galicia and Asturias
- Cantabria, Euskadi and La Rioja
- Aragón and Navarra
- Catalunya
- Balears
- Castilla y León and Madrid
- Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha
- País Valencià and Murcia
- Andalucía
- Cross-border sites
- Glossary
- Useful contacts
- Further reading
- Index to place names
- Key to map symbols
When writing Traveller's Nature Guide: Spain, we made a decision to use the common names of
animals and plants wherever possible, but at the end of the day there was not room in the book for a
list of their scientific equivalents. Click here to consult these species lists.
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