Sierra de Andújar

Sierra de Andújar Natural Park was declared on 28 July 1989 and protects 74,774 hectares in the eastern belt of the Sierra Morena, in the province of Jaén, mostly in the municipality of Andújar and to a lesser extent in Baños de la Encina, Marmolejo and Villanueva de la Reina. The Yeguas River separates it to the west from the Sierra de Cardeña y Montoro Natural Park, across the provincial boundary in Córdoba, and to the north it borders Sierra Madrona. The relief is one of gentle hills and mountains, with an average altitude of about 585 m, a low point of 200 m on the Jándula River and a maximum of 1,291 m in Sierra Quintana. The absence of settlements inside it and of major infrastructure is one of the keys to its good state of preservation.

Mediterranean woodland dominates in its fullest expression: holm oak, cork oak and Portuguese oak woods on the high ground, large dehesa areas given over to livestock and to game management, and scrub of rockrose, mastic, kermes oak and strawberry tree. The Jándula and Yeguas rivers preserve well-structured riverine woodland and a rich aquatic community, with amphibians such as the Iberian midwife toad, Bosca's newt and the Iberian parsley frog, and reptiles such as Lataste's viper, the Iberian emerald lizard and the Spanish and European pond terrapins. The Jándula and Encinarejo reservoirs complete the water system.

Its emblematic wildlife has made the park one of the leading destinations for wildlife watching in Europe. It holds the most important population of Iberian lynx, which was the main source of animals for the captive breeding programmes and for reinforcing other populations when the species was reduced to fewer than a hundred individuals at the start of this century. It is joined by the Spanish imperial eagle, the golden eagle, the cinereous vulture, the black stork and the otter, and there is a high density of red deer, fallow deer, roe deer, mouflon and wild boar. Some 178 bird species have been recorded. At the heart of the park, on the Cabezo hill, stands the Sanctuary of the Virgen de la Cabeza, whose April pilgrimage draws tens of thousands of people every year and has been declared a Festival of National Tourist Interest.