Ordesa y Monte Perdido

Ordesa y Monte Perdido is built around the limestone massif of Monte Perdido, the highest of its kind in Europe, and the four valleys that descend from it: Ordesa, Añisclo, Escuaín and Pineta. Quaternary glaciers carved the valleys into U-shaped troughs, leaving vertical walls hundreds of metres high that karst erosion has gradually riddled with shafts, caves and springs. The Cotatuero cirque and the Cola de Caballo are its most visited spots. The flora brings together alpine species, Pyrenean endemics and Mediterranean elements that climb up the most sheltered canyons, an uncommon overlap. It is one of the strongholds of the bearded vulture in western Europe and holds Pyrenean chamois, marmot and a notable community of cliff-nesting raptors. Declared in 1918, the same year as Picos de Europa, it forms, together with the French Pyrenees National Park, the transboundary Pyrénées - Mont Perdu property, inscribed on the World Heritage List for its natural values and for its landscape of traditional pastoralism.