The Retiro Park Paseo has been the perfect scenario for the wildest nature for a few days. From May 30 until June 30, a photographic exhibition dedicated to the national parks of Spain is open to the public, a tour of 93 shocking images, winners or finalists of the National Photography Contest «Photoparques», which bring those who look at some of the most beautiful and surprising places of the country’s natural spaces.
It all started In 1918 when the Mountain of Covadonga (today Picos de Europa) and Ordesa (today Ordesa and Monte Lost) became national parks. These spaces are considered unique for their high natural and cultural value, little altered by human activity, home of unique species of flora and fauna and possessors of unique geomorphological formations. They are places of preferential conservation. Spain, in fact, became the second country in the world, behind the US, to have a specific law of national parks, as recalled yesterday during the opening ceremony, the general director of Biodiversity, Bosques and Desertification of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, which also stated without a doubt that “they are the jewels of the crown of the natural spaces,” said María Jesús. The inauguration coincides with the celebration these weeks of the Madrid Book Fair, a reference in the Panorama Cultura that this year has wanted to open this window to biodiversity. The event was attended by María Teresa Core, coordinator of the ABANCA ABANCA SOCIAL WORK SOCIAL WORK, – Organizing Entity of the exhibition together with OAPN (National Parks Autonomous Organization) Tragsa, CNIG and Town Halls. It also was attended by Javier Pantoja, director of the National Parks Autonomous Agency, who recalled that this year 30 have been fulfilled since the entity was created.
More than a hundred years adding
To the first mountain landscapes in Picos de Europa, Ordesa and Monte Lost, they have been added with the time Aigüestortes I Estany de Sant Maurici, the Sierra de Guadarrama and Sierra Nevada; the wetlands of Daimiel and Doñana; the Mediterranean mountains of Cabañeros and Monfragüe; the maritime-terrestrial parks of the Atlantic illas of Galicia and the Cabrera archipelago; the beautiful volcanic landscapes of Timanfaya, the boiler, Garajonay and El Teide; And so on to the Sierra de las Nieves, the last park declared in 2021 for its botanical treasures.
Just over a hundred years have passed and now the list of national parks add 16, Each has their own personality and singularity and reflect the different climates of the Iberian Peninsula, from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. Thanks to this exhibition, anywhere can travel from the Sierra de Guadarrama and the Aigüestortes lakes to the Doñana wetlands and the Mediterranean forests of Cabañeros, passing through mountain landscapes such as Picos de Europa, Ordesa, Aigüestortes, Sierra Nevada; wetlands and forests such as Daimiel or Monfragüe tables. The marine ecosystems are represented in the Atlantic Illes of Galicia and the Cabrera archipelago. The volcanoes and laurisilva: Timanfaya, Teide, Garajonay, Taburiente boiler or the volcanic treasures of the Sierra de las Nieves (2021) in Malaga. A tour that demonstrates that photography with its ability to see and highlight natural beauty “can become a good environmental awareness tool,” was heard during the inauguration.
This exhibition invites us to contemplate the beauty of each of those corners and to amaze ourselves with the unique moments that the winning and finalist photographers of the National Contest «Pictoparques» They have managed to collect in their snapshots. This contest meets its second edition in 2025.
