Spain can be rugged, high, and dry. Or flat, low, and wet. Or anything in between.

Because of its varied terrain, Spain has more wild and beautiful places than any other country in Europe. These places exist in a sometimes comfortable, sometimes uneasy relationship to human settlement. Responding to the ancient closeness of human beings and nature in Spain, the Spanish environmental movement has emphasized public education more than than land preservation. However, large areas of Spain have been set aside in an enlightened system of ten national parks plus hundreds of hunting reserves, natural reserves, and other protected areas.

Both the marvelous diversity of wild Spain -- and the tension between wild Spain and settled Spain—can be seen in three amazing national parks. In the Pyrenees, Ordesa National Park. In the Picos de Europa, the lush green mountains along the north Atlantic coast, the National Park of La Montaqa de Covadonga. And in the very south, Doqana, a stunning, but oh-so-fragile, bird sanctuary.

Other National Parks in Spain

Spain has seven other unique national parks:

Tablas de Daimiel. Called"wet La Mancha," an interior wetlands in which more than 200 species of birds can be observed.

Aig|es Tortes and Lago de Sant Maurici. Means "twisted waters." Rugged Pyrenean highlands.

Caqadas del Teide. Volcanic highlands with amazing landscapes and flora.

Timanfaya. Recent volcanic landscape. Austere.

Caldera de Taburiente A giant caldera.

Garajonay. In the Canary Islands, the most important remaining laurisylvan forests.

Marmmo-Terrestre. Spain's newest. The largest non-populated island in the Mediterranean

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