Issue date: 30 Sep, 2019
ANNIVERSARIES. COVADONGA MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK CENTENARY
On 22 July 1918, King Alfonso XIII enacted the law through which the Covadonga Mountain National Park was declared the first national park in Spain.
From that moment on, nature conservation in our country has been an important issue, with more than 1,800 protected areas across Spain to date within the regulations’ wide scope.
This declaration falls under the law enacted in order to establish the national celebration of the 12th Centenary to mark the beginning of the Reconquista with the Battle of Covadonga. This celebration was held at a delicate time, when national spirit was wounded following the 1898 disaster.
Today, this park is categorised as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO.
Valleys, peaks, meadows and rivers, flora and fauna, make the Picos de Europa a natural spectacle.
With a complex limestone geography inhabited by eagles, bears, wolves and even vultures, the mountains of this park are some of the most admired spots on the Iberian Peninsula, with more than two million visitors every year.
One of its natural gems is the Picu Urriellu or Naranjo de Bulnes. Often obscured by fog, its white colour makes it one of the most beautiful limestone monoliths in the world.
A diverse colour palette mixes green and grey, blue and white, and on occasion, lilacs and pinks on reds, ochres and russets, making this singular area of 67,000 hectares fade away into the boarders of Asturias, Cantabria and Castile and León.
This mini sheet depicts the National Park’s landscape, with two mountaineers in gear from different eras taking centre stage: the man wears the typical dress of mountaineers from the turn of the 20th century, and the woman, modern mountaineering gear, to symbolise the one-hundred-year passing. The stamp features an intaglio of the Naranjo de Bulnes.
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