On the wild side - Spain's Palentian mountains

The air is filled with cries of ‘campeones, campeones’, showers of red and yellow confetti float through the air and wild celebration is the order of the day after Spain’s Euro 2008 victory this week. If footie isn’t your thing but still fancy a bit of Spain’s wild side - join Naturetrek on its 8-day Wild Spain - La Montaña Palentina tour, exploring a spectacular region of high ridges, rounded summits, sweeping valleys and panoramic vistas, in search of the region’s birds, plants, butterflies and mammals, departing London 18th September 2008.

There still remain corners of rural Spain forgotten by time, largely abandoned by all but the older generation, and which are being reclaimed by a wildlife, including Wolf, Brown Bear, Wild Boar, Chamois, Brown Hare, Beech Marten, Pine Marten, Wildcat and secretive Genet. The Montaña Palentina is a wild, magnificent, unpopulated region extending southwards to the Great Plains of Castile and Leon.

Nestling in the shadow of northern Spain’s Cordillera Cantábrica, near the jagged limestone peaks of the Picos de Europa, the Palentian Mountains are dominated by the majestic Sierra de Peña Labra, a high mountain ridge offering 2,000m summits, including Valdecebollas (2,136m) and Pico Tres Mares (2,175m). Farm cottage accommodation situated north of Aguilar del Campo, provide a comfortable base from which to explore a region rich in alpine flora, jagged crags and cliffs, and vast oak and beech forests, home to a high percentage of endangered European Brown Bear.

For the best chances to observe these notoriously elusive animals, local guides, Tino and his friend Nacho, take guests on dawn and dusk excursions when the Bears are most active. Explore the area on foot, either walking from base, or quiet locations accessed by minibus. A range of habitats can be found in close proximity, with resident raptors including Golden Eagle, Peregrine, Griffon and Egyptian Vulture, together with Black and Middle-spotted Woodpeckers who both breed here.

Further afield, explore the steppes and plains of the meseta, home to Great Bustard, Stone Curlew and other grassland birds. Elsewhere, in the midst of Castile and Leon’s vast cereal belt, a pack of Wolves secretly flourish – an atmospheric vigil at dusk may reveal the Wolves as they tentatively venture out into the stubble from their daytime home.

The break costs £985 p/p including scheduled flights, transfers, comfortable farm cottage accommodation, all meals and expert guiding.

For more information, visit Naturetrek.co.uk.