Adapted visit to the Los Villares Visitor Center.
Los Villares Periurban Park

Welcome to the Virtual Tour of the Los Villares Visitor Centre. This equipment is located in the mountain called Los Villares Bajos, Córdoba. Here, you will be able to discover the assets of this Park within the framework of the Network of Protected Natural Areas of Andalusia (RENPA).

In this centre, the visitor can find a central space where the reception and the Natural Space shop converge, where they will be attended to and where they will have the chance to buy a product or two related to the environment, and also an area with information about the Network of Protected Natural Areas of Andalusia (RENPA). The building also has a meeting, exhibition and events room, where an audiovisual on the merits of the Protected Natural Areas in the province of Córdoba is also screened.

Declared a Periurban Park in 1990 Los Villares is located 10 kilometres from Córdoba and is the genuine lungs of the city, representing a popular area for the people of Córdoba on days as important as the San Rafael festival. The typical ‘peroles’ (a type of outdoor stone oven) are distributed all over the installations of this Periurban Park.

Of its almost 500 hectares, its recreation area stands out, with almost 60 hectares boasting the necessary infrastructures for leisure and environmental education. Thus the urban visitor can enjoy nature without having to travel long distances. The vegetation that we will find when walking along the paths and routes around the visitor centres is typical of the Mediterranean mountain, although with pine and eucalyptus forests surrounded by scrubland of strawberry trees, rockrose, mastic trees or kermes oaks.

Due to the high number of people who frequent this protected space, this visitor centre responds to the purpose of bringing the values of this Periurban Park and other natural spaces of the province closer through publicly accessible facilities, such as trails, observatories and viewpoints, among other things.

The centre also has an annex to a Centre for Irretrievable Animals, which houses animals that have not been able to be released into their natural environment after being cured at the Centre for the Recovery of Threatened Species (C.R.E.A.).

In these links you can find more information about this Protected Natural Area with downloadable material such as trails, opening hours, how to get there, map with all the facilities for public use, etc.

Los Villares Visitor Center: lajunta.es/3srd4

Los Villares Periurban Park: lajunta.es/3sq8h

Complete your visit with ecotourism experiences with local companies. You can consult the offer in the following link: ecoturismoandaluz.com

For activities aimed at the educational community, associations of people with functional diversity and local population, you can access through the link: reservatuvisita.ecoturismoandaluz.com

The most relevant of these lagoons is undoubtedly the value they possess for the birdlife, which have found in them a place of breeding, wintering and even, of sporadic stopping. However, on an international scale, the lagoons of Córdoba, will be eternally linked to the recovery of the white-headed duck, since they were active protagonists in the recovery of this bird, which was on the brink of extinction. Invasive species such as the ruddy duck are a threat to the white-headed species since it forms hybrids with it, and therefore could make it disappear genetically.

The list of protected wetlands is completed by two man-made sites the Cordobilla and Malpasillo reservoirs, which are also a true paradise for many species of birds. In these spaces the conservation of their assets is combined with some traditional activities and others of a scientific nature and of public use.

The Zoñar Lagoon, in the immediate surroundings of Aguilar de la Fromtera, is the most important of the complex of humid zones of south Córdoba. It is the deepest lagoon in Andalusia and considered the largest entity in the region. Its declaration as a Natural Reserve ensured the future of the white-headed duck in Spain. From a small population that resisted in this lagoon in the 1980s, the recovery of this species in our country has been possible. In addition, many birds use it both as a breeding ground and as a winter migratory spot.

The rest of the lagoons that make up this protected mosaic are: Tíscar, Amarga, Los Jarales, Salobral and Rincón.

The Nature Reserves in the province of Córdoba cover extensive areas that contains an important natural and scenic richness. These spaces also possess a large amount of cultural assets that are a reflection of the history of these Cordobese lands throughout the centuries. In them, some uses have been maintained that perfectly symbolise the balance between humanity and nature.

The Sierra de Hornachuelos Nature Reserve, a Biosphere Reserve that has been exceptionally preserved by the use of its inhabitants. The hunting tradition has favoured the conservation of this mountain range. Its holm oaks, cork oaks and gall oaks provide shelter to numerous living beings, among which the deer stands out, that in these lands attracts great hunting interest. Great raptors like the Iberian imperial eagle and the black vulture or the black stork, nest in this space that also possesses a very important cultural heritage.

The Sierra de Cardena y Montoro Natural Park provides a habitat to the most elite of creatures, such as the Iberian lynx or the Iberian imperial eagle. Its typically Mediterranean landscapes have remained almost unchanged over time. In this mountainous area the course of the Yeguas river and its splendid landscapes stand out.

The Sierras Subbéticas Natural Park, nature made monument. This Park is installed in a middle mountain area with very steep slopes. The limestone rocks that form it are largely responsible for singular geological manifestations such as the caves or channels. This is why it forms part of the European Geoparks Network.