Guadarrama National Park

Sierra de Guadarrama National Park is one of Spain's most recently established national parks and the fifth largest in the country's national park system, covering nearly 34,000 hectares within the Guadarrama mountain range. The park straddles two autonomous communities, the Community of Madrid and Castile and León, making it one of the few Spanish national parks with a genuinely cross-regional footprint.

Where is the park located?

The park lies in central Spain, within the Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range, which forms a natural boundary between the Madrid region and the neighboring Castile and León. The coordinates associated with the park sit around 40.78 degrees north latitude and -3.98 degrees west longitude. The locality of Alameda del Valle, associated with this location, sits close to this protected mountain area.

When was the national park created?

Sierra de Guadarrama gained national park status relatively recently: the law regulating the park was published in Spain's official state gazette, the BOE, on June 26, 2013. Granting this status recognized the exceptional ecological value of the mountain region, which had previously existed under a different form of protected-area designation.

Why is this area ecologically significant?

The Guadarrama mountain range contains areas considered to be of significant ecological value, and this was among the key reasons the territory was elevated to the highest level of nature protection available within Spain's system — national park status. Because the protected area spans two separate administrative regions, safeguarding it requires coordination between different regional authorities, a relatively unusual arrangement among Spain's national parks.

How large is the park?

The park covers close to 34,000 hectares, ranking it as the fifth largest national park in Spain. This scale means the protected area takes in a substantial and varied stretch of the mountain range, extending across the border zone between the Madrid and Castile and León regions.

Frequently asked questions

How big is Sierra de Guadarrama National Park? The park covers nearly 34,000 hectares, making it the fifth largest national park in Spain.

Which administrative regions does the park span? The park extends across two autonomous communities: the Community of Madrid and Castile and León.

When did this area become a national park? The law establishing its national park status was published in Spain's BOE on June 26, 2013.

What makes this area ecologically valuable? The presence of ecologically significant areas within the Guadarrama mountain range, which was a key basis for granting it national park status.

Where exactly is the park situated? In central Spain, within the Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range, near coordinates 40.78°N, -3.98°W, close to the locality of Alameda del Valle.