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Wild Spain
Offers information on birdwatching, backpacking, and hiking in each region of Spain, and describes the country's geography and wildlife
222 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
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June 5, 2023Part of my heart relocated to Spain this past week, so I've been gathering all the Spain info I can.
August 6, 2024
A photographic guidebook to the wild regions of Spain, though as it is copyright 1988, as far as a guide to things like ferry or bus schedules for the various locations detailed, decades out of date.
So what’s left? A nice tour of the natural beauty of Spain, detailed in readable accounts using the author’s personal experiences and with numerous color photos and not a few black and white illustrations. The black and white illustrations are decent, but the color photos are very nice. Author Frederic V. Grunfeld, has divided all of Spain into eight chapters and talks about in the guide his experiences say in hiking volcanic slopes on La Palma or riding in a Land Rover to birdwatch in remote areas of Doñana National Park. Each entry notes prominent natural features, paying particular attention to noteworthy plants, butterflies, geology, reptiles, mammals, amphibians, geology, human history, and often most of all bird life.
After the intro (talking about the climate and geology of the 400 miles by 400 miles Iberian peninsula, noting Spain has “the highest mean altitude of any country in Europe, barring Switzerland,” that Spain “is basically a highland plateau” and about “40 per cent of peninsular Spain is taken up by the wind-blown, largely treeless Meseta”), chapters on the Pyrenees (noting its three regions, alpine wildflowers, rare butterflies, the lammergeier, and the monastery of San Juan de la Peña and its connection to the Holy Grail), Northern Spain (early paleolithic settlements, botanically diverse Atlantic grasslands, wolves, bears, the capercaillie, the genet, the huge oak forest of El Bosque de Muniellos, and seabirds), North Meseta (land of wheat-fields, vineyards, medieval churches, the medieval pilgrimage route Camino de Sanitago, a land with black storks, the imperial eagle, ibex, and the Spanish lynx or pardel), South Meseta (a “vast, parched plain” that is closely tied with the adventures of Don Quixote, rare butterflies, the migratory bird stopover Laguna de Gallocanta, and the 20 species of raptors that nest in Parque Natural de Monfragüe including substantial numbers of black vultures and Spanish imperial eagles), the Mediterranean Coast (Aiguamolls de l'Empordà marshland preserve with 20 species of mammals and 300 species of birds, Delta del Ebro with its 250 species of birds including colonies of terns and gulls, and Sierra Espuña with its large tracts of untouched Mediterranean pine forest), Andalucia (land of flamenco music, the Easter time penitentes of Seville, bullfights, Alhambra, also the “bare, tortured rocks” of El Torcal de Antequera, the vast flocks of breeding flamingos at Fuente de Piedra, and Doñana, its wetlands, sand-dunes, and pine forests “the last great lowland wilderness sanctuary in southern Europe”, and land of the cork oak), the Mediterranean Balearic Islands (37% of the islands’ are protected, home to many endemic plants, with in “some areas, between 60 and 70 per cent of the ground cover consists of endemics” as well as orchards that produce “three-quarters of all the almonds consumed in Europe” and noted the famous oleander of Ibiza), and the volcanic Canary Islands 65 miles off the coast of Morocco, ten times closer to Africa than peninsular Spain (fascinating volcanic geology, the famous dragon tree – Dracaena draco – and the tropical fruit plantations of La Palma).
It's clear that the author is a birder and an amateur botanist as interesting birds and plants are mentioned again and again in the book. I also appreciated the attention given to reptiles and butterflies. Though it is on wild Spain, human history is mentioned a number of times in context. I do wish a few passages had been longer, but technically it is a guidebook not a book one would probably sit down and read, though it is very readable. I especially wish the desert of Tabernas, “scene of several ‘paella-westerns’” had more than basically a paragraph devoted to it.
So what’s left? A nice tour of the natural beauty of Spain, detailed in readable accounts using the author’s personal experiences and with numerous color photos and not a few black and white illustrations. The black and white illustrations are decent, but the color photos are very nice. Author Frederic V. Grunfeld, has divided all of Spain into eight chapters and talks about in the guide his experiences say in hiking volcanic slopes on La Palma or riding in a Land Rover to birdwatch in remote areas of Doñana National Park. Each entry notes prominent natural features, paying particular attention to noteworthy plants, butterflies, geology, reptiles, mammals, amphibians, geology, human history, and often most of all bird life.
After the intro (talking about the climate and geology of the 400 miles by 400 miles Iberian peninsula, noting Spain has “the highest mean altitude of any country in Europe, barring Switzerland,” that Spain “is basically a highland plateau” and about “40 per cent of peninsular Spain is taken up by the wind-blown, largely treeless Meseta”), chapters on the Pyrenees (noting its three regions, alpine wildflowers, rare butterflies, the lammergeier, and the monastery of San Juan de la Peña and its connection to the Holy Grail), Northern Spain (early paleolithic settlements, botanically diverse Atlantic grasslands, wolves, bears, the capercaillie, the genet, the huge oak forest of El Bosque de Muniellos, and seabirds), North Meseta (land of wheat-fields, vineyards, medieval churches, the medieval pilgrimage route Camino de Sanitago, a land with black storks, the imperial eagle, ibex, and the Spanish lynx or pardel), South Meseta (a “vast, parched plain” that is closely tied with the adventures of Don Quixote, rare butterflies, the migratory bird stopover Laguna de Gallocanta, and the 20 species of raptors that nest in Parque Natural de Monfragüe including substantial numbers of black vultures and Spanish imperial eagles), the Mediterranean Coast (Aiguamolls de l'Empordà marshland preserve with 20 species of mammals and 300 species of birds, Delta del Ebro with its 250 species of birds including colonies of terns and gulls, and Sierra Espuña with its large tracts of untouched Mediterranean pine forest), Andalucia (land of flamenco music, the Easter time penitentes of Seville, bullfights, Alhambra, also the “bare, tortured rocks” of El Torcal de Antequera, the vast flocks of breeding flamingos at Fuente de Piedra, and Doñana, its wetlands, sand-dunes, and pine forests “the last great lowland wilderness sanctuary in southern Europe”, and land of the cork oak), the Mediterranean Balearic Islands (37% of the islands’ are protected, home to many endemic plants, with in “some areas, between 60 and 70 per cent of the ground cover consists of endemics” as well as orchards that produce “three-quarters of all the almonds consumed in Europe” and noted the famous oleander of Ibiza), and the volcanic Canary Islands 65 miles off the coast of Morocco, ten times closer to Africa than peninsular Spain (fascinating volcanic geology, the famous dragon tree – Dracaena draco – and the tropical fruit plantations of La Palma).
It's clear that the author is a birder and an amateur botanist as interesting birds and plants are mentioned again and again in the book. I also appreciated the attention given to reptiles and butterflies. Though it is on wild Spain, human history is mentioned a number of times in context. I do wish a few passages had been longer, but technically it is a guidebook not a book one would probably sit down and read, though it is very readable. I especially wish the desert of Tabernas, “scene of several ‘paella-westerns’” had more than basically a paragraph devoted to it.
November 2, 2015
For people who want more than just the touristy stuff:
I may have been the first peacetime American to ever be totally unexcited about visiting Europe. I was writing a book that featured adventures on all seven continents, looking for rare and interesting wildlife. Of all the continents, Europe gave me the most trepidation. Where would I go to get away from humans and get closer to animals?
When I read the most popular travel guides, all I could find were tips on touristy locations—the exact opposite of what I wanted. Eventually I discovered the “Wild Guide” series, put out by Interlink Books. Perfect!
By using books in the Wild Guide series, including Wild Spain, my wife and I were able to explore great out-of-the-way places that featured stunning landscapes and abundant wildlife. The end result was an outstanding adventure that became one of my favorite chapters in my book (which I appropriately titled “Surprisingly Europe”).
Unfortunately the Wild Guide series has not been updated, and books such as Wild Spain are likely in short supply. If you have interest in the natural side of Europe, snap-up these guides as quickly as you can. Fortunately, most of the places featured in these books should be quite similar to how they were when the series was published.
Marty Essen, author of
Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents
I may have been the first peacetime American to ever be totally unexcited about visiting Europe. I was writing a book that featured adventures on all seven continents, looking for rare and interesting wildlife. Of all the continents, Europe gave me the most trepidation. Where would I go to get away from humans and get closer to animals?
When I read the most popular travel guides, all I could find were tips on touristy locations—the exact opposite of what I wanted. Eventually I discovered the “Wild Guide” series, put out by Interlink Books. Perfect!
By using books in the Wild Guide series, including Wild Spain, my wife and I were able to explore great out-of-the-way places that featured stunning landscapes and abundant wildlife. The end result was an outstanding adventure that became one of my favorite chapters in my book (which I appropriately titled “Surprisingly Europe”).
Unfortunately the Wild Guide series has not been updated, and books such as Wild Spain are likely in short supply. If you have interest in the natural side of Europe, snap-up these guides as quickly as you can. Fortunately, most of the places featured in these books should be quite similar to how they were when the series was published.
Marty Essen, author of
Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews