Pinares de Doñana

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Esparteros mountain range

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The Esparteros mountain range, catalogued in the Special Plan for the Protection of the Physical Environment of the Province of Seville as a Mountain Complex of Environmental Interest, is located to the south-west of the town of Morón de la Frontera. It is very close to the villages of Aldea Guadaíra and Caleras de la Sierra. Esparteros is a small isolated mountain range, belonging to the sub-Baetic foothills and bordered on its northern slope by the Guadaira river. Its topography is quite rugged, with altitudes between 250 and 585 m and steep slopes. The highest peaks are the hills of Esparteros (585 m) and Puntal (466 m). There are some places of great interest in the mountain range, such as Tajo del Águila on the northern slope, and the cave of Loma de la Jarra, a karstic cavity characteristic of this type of relief that occurs in this mountain range due to the calcareous nature of the rocks that form it.

Esparteros belongs to the Guadaira river basin and supports a carbonate aquifer in which the waters of the Guadaira spring originate. It is located in the mountain range and its waters have been used in a complementary way for urban supply.

The main use of this mountain range is livestock farming, although some mining activity has been going on for years, mainly the extraction of gypsum and limestone. The town of Morón de la Frontera has been linked since ancient times to the artisanal process of transforming gypsum into lime. The lime was obtained in traditional kilns, such as those still preserved in the village of Caleras de la Sierra, at the foot of the Esparteros mountain range. The artisanal lime of Morón de la Frontera has been on the UNESCO list of Good Practices for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2011. 

Entrance is free. You can get there by road A-361 towards Montellano, and at kilometre 24 you get to Aldea de Caleras de la Sierra, which is located at the foot of the Esparteros mountain range. You can walk from there. Another access is by road A-8126 towards Coripe. After kilometre 64, at Venta de Espartero, take a path to the left. 

Region
Category
Recreation spaces
Surface area
400.00 Ha
Flora

This mountain area has a great ecological value, hosting flora and fauna of great interest. In addition to species such as holm oaks, wild olive trees, gall oaks and mastic trees, there are some endemic species such as Ceratocapnos heterocarpa, an herbaceous species found only in some very specific areas in the south of the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa. The most outstanding vegetation is composed of wild olive trees, accompanied by broom, palmetto, mastic and white rockrose scrub, and pastureland. In Esparteros, there are also small stands of stone pine, planted for forestry use.

Fauna

The fauna is very varied, with a great diversity of species that find food and shelter in this mountain range. These include small mammals such as dormice, moles and badgers, and a wide variety of birds such as kites, kestrels, buzzards, warblers, partridges, hoopoes, song thrushes and Bonelli's eagles.

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