Spanish Geoparks Forum
15 unique territories to discoverIn countries that have many geoparks, national geoparks forums or committees represent the Global Geoparks Network.
The Spanish UNESCO Global Geoparks together with the individual members of the GGN, are the members of the Spanish Geoparks Forum.
Different activities constitute the elements of cooperation:
- To promote and to disseminate the activity of the UNESCO Global Geoparks in Spain, in its cultural and scientific aspects, as well as its implementation in the territorial development, through common tools such as web and social networks, meetings and open seminars, publications and others.
- To participate in scientific, tourist, educational and sustainable development dissemination meetings in which information or participation of the UNESCO Global Geoparks is required.
- To serve as a framework for the coordination of common initiatives of the Spanish UNESCO Global Geoparks, favouring their development and fostering relationships between their members through the organization of common events and projects.
- To participate in the activities of the GGN and the European Geoparks Network (EGN) in accordance with their respective statutes and regulations.
The Forum of Spanish Geoparks is also constituted as a stable working group, attached to the Spanish National Committee of Geoparks. This Committee depends on the Spanish National Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain and its main mission is the dialogue with UNESCO for the Spanish contributions to the UNESCO Global Geoparks Program.
For this reason, the Forum has a more defined function such as:
To participate in the Spanish National Committee of Geoparks collaborating in the best result of its objectives and in everything that constitutes a Spanish contribution to the Earth Sciences Program and UNESCO.
Visitar “Volcanes de Calatrava, Ciudad Real” es visitar la historia geológica de la Península Ibérica en apenas 4.400 km2, con el aliciente de contemplar y disfrutar, además, un patrimonio histórico y cultural tangible e intangible, de inmensa riqueza y variedad. La geología del territorio del geoparque se articula mediante un único argumento geológico: el vulcanismo y la singularidad geológica que este proceso ígneo ha aportado (durante los últimos 420 millones de años) para destacar a un territorio único a nivel mundial.
En el Geoparque del Maestrazgo abundan los pueblos y conjuntos monumentales; se suceden 67 Lugares de Interés Geológico y dos entornos geológicos de Relevancia Internacional; conviven las realidades de la sierra y el somontano, y hay una rica variedad de paisajes y paisanajes, de festejos tradicionales, de historia y de contrastes. En sus rocas, en sus aguas y en su flora se escribe la esencia de un turismo sostenible, la memoria de los sentidos…
The Cabo de Gata-Níjar Geopark is located in Andalusia at the southeastern margin of the Almería province (Spain), flanked by the Mediterranean Sea on the right and surrounded by the municipalities of Níjar, Carboneras and Almería.
The last 550 millions years of the Earth History are recorded in the Sobrarbe-Pirineos Geopark. Rocks formed in two different seas, the roots of the enormous and totally disappeared variscan range and, of course, a detailed record of the making of the Pyrenees. Large folds and thrusts, all kind of rocks, unique fossils, deep gorges, glaciers and infinite caves… all the Sobrarbe’s landscape offers you the best of the Pyrenees in a glance.
The kingdom of ammonites. A mountainous territory in the heart of Andalusia, with white villages and mountain olive groves. Where the ancient sea beds of the Tethys are shaped by the Karst.
The Basque Coast Geopark contains one of the most marvellous books ever written. Its pages were formed under the sea and today, layer by layer, make up a book over 13 kilometres long that charts over 60 million consecutive years of the Earth’s history.
Sierra morena de Sevilla collect part of the geological history of the central region of Sierra Morena, from the Precambrian to the end of the Paleozoic (1,000 to 250 million years), with multiple sites of great scientific value and beauty, where you can do many tourist and sports activities, enjoying its great nature.
At the top of La Villuerca, gazing from there at the impressive succession of mountains and valleys, understanding the enormous forces of nature that produced those folds, one feels the emotion of being part of what is beautiful in an indisputable way.
Around 36 million years ago, the central area of Catalonia was covered by water. A sea that since then has disappeared. The water, salt and the passing of time have sculpted a breath-taking geology and landscape. Together with human action exerted over millennia, this has led to a vastly rich historical, natural, and cultural heritage. Enjoy the experience!
Located in the eastern part of the province of Guadalajara, the Molina-Alto Tajo Geopark, with a population density of 2 inhabitants per square kilometer, seems to have been touched by magic. Its natural landscapes, by which the human being has barely left a trace, are allied with a spectacular geology to tell us 650 million years of the history of the Earth.
El Hierro, la segunda más pequeña de las Islas Canarias, en tan sólo 268km² se concentran tres mega deslizamientos, edificios antiguos, vulcanismo reciente, lavas cordadas, cráteres, disyunción columnar…geología a primera vista sobre y bajo el mar. Con los paisajes volcánicos se entrelazan miradores de vértigo y bosques encantados donde la práctica de deportes se convierte en verdadera aventura. Vívelo!
The Lanzarote and Chinijo Islands UNESCO Global Geopark is not only pure geology, it’s more than that, it’s a group of volcanic islands with the perfect combination of nature and art.
The powerful landscape of Las Loras is witness to the largest concentration of Romanesque buildings in the Iberian Peninsula. The link between geological heritage, art and human settlement is one of the hallmarks of the Geopark
Orígens Geopark, a journey back in time. You wonder where you come from, what your origins are… Orígens Geopark lets you take a true journey through time to discover the origins of the evolution of the Earth and life, from the Big Bang to the present day.
El Geoparque ofrece una oportunidad única de su singular geología y asombrosa biodiversidad, donde convive el ser humano desde la prehistoria.
One of the best records of sediments and continental fossils in the last five million years of Earth's history, especially the Quaternary period
