Natural places in Fuerteventura

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Natural places

1. Malpais de la Arena

Other natural spaces

National Parks

Among the most impressive protected areas of Fuerteventura is the Natural Monument of the Malpais de la Arena, Volcán de la Arena. Located between La Oliva, Lajares and Villaverde this place will transport visitors to another planet thanks to the imposing landscapes of rock that surround them. This area was formed as a result of a volcano that after its eruption left a sea of solidified lavas and that gave rise to a unique ecosystem of flora and fauna that is also linked to the great geological, geomorphological and archaeological value.

Malpaís has dimensions that are around 12 square kilometers and are formed by several craters and lava flows at the base of the main building of the volcano. The Volcan de La Arena is 10,000 years old and has a height of 420 meters above sea level and 120 meters above the base and is considered the youngest on the island of Fuerteventura strong>.

In Malpais you can see small furnaces, holes where the gases of the volcanic eruptions were released, this has led to the formation of caves like the one called. Birds can be observed as owls or shearwaters that take refuge in breeding season.

In 1970, the archaeological site of the Cueva de los Ídolos was found, where a large amount of fragmented ceramics, bone remains, fish scraps, tools, decorative objects and objects were found. the idols that are small pieces of clay and stones that appeared among domestic objects in burial mounds.The large number of found objects together with its landscape and other elements have made this space declared in 1987 as Natural Area of National Interest of Malpaís Grande and reclassified in 1994 of Natural Spaces of the Canary Islands as National Monument.

Place: La Oliva

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Natural places, Beaches
2. Dunas de Corralejo

National Parks

Other natural spaces

The Natural Park of the Dunes of Corralejo is one of the most emblematic natural sites of Fuerteventura. The spectacular shapes that emerge from this sea of dunes is simply supreme, a desert beauty that will not leave any of the visitors indifferent. The Dunes of Corralejo Natural Park is located near La Oliva, in the northeast part of the island, forming a coastal strip with a dimension of around 2.5 kilometers. wide by 10 long, reaching more than 2500 hectares and a variable relief that goes from sea level to 50 meters high that some dunes can have.

In the natural park you can distinguish two parts well different. On the one hand, the area farther north, with the huge expanse of dunes, the largest of the Canary archipelago, white sands that contrast with the turquoise waters that bathe the coasts. On the other hand, the area to the south that is the opposite, ocher and red colors with f rock formations more abrupt and rugged.

From the coast you can see the Isla de Lobos, separated by the strait of the Bocaina of just 2 kilometers and that counts as a hamlet of La Oliva.

The biodiversity that hides the Natural Park of the Dunes of Corralejo is surprising, with an endemic flora and a protected fauna. Great bustards, curlews, ravens or marshes are some of the birds that can be spotted and more on the coast tridáctilo correlimos, returns stones, spatula or the curlew. In addition to mammals such as hedgehogs, rabbits, or squirrels that have adapted to the lack of water in the area of the dunes.

You can also rest in the numerous beaches such as Alzada, El Moro, El Dormidero, Los Martos, Bajo Negro, El Pozo among others, in many of them it is possible to do nudism. It is also an interesting place for surfing, windsurfing, kite surfing or diving.

Place: La Oliva

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Natural places
3. Montaña de Tindaya

Other natural spaces

National Parks

Fuerteventura has a lot of natural spaces, one of the best known belongs to the municipality of La Oliva, just 6 kilometers from the Atlantic coast, is the Tindaya Mountain.

This mountainous formation is in the Llano de Esquinzo and reaches a height close to 400 meters being considered the most emblematic natural element of Fuerteventura.

Speaking of its morphology Tindaya is a trachyte python in a pyramidal form, it is imposing at the same time that it is solitary in the plains of Esquinzo, very close to the town of the same name and in the northwestern part of Fuerteventura.

It is believed that the Montaña de Tindaya was formed approximately 18.7 million years ago and according to studies may be one of the first formations that emerged on the island, in the large building of the Tetir shield. This shield of volcanic origin was the result of erosion over hundreds of millions of years that were eroding the basalt rocks from which they were formed, thus revealing the quartz-trachytic rocks that resisted this erosion over the millennia and what today is Tindaya.

At the base of the mountain there are small quarries that are currently in disuse that was exploited some time ago by private companies.

Despite appearing to be a desert place, there is a very curious flora and fauna. Regarding the flora, there are endemic species of the Canary Islands, for example the cuernúa or the Jarao. Regarding the fauna, birds, such as the alcarava, the Saharan runner, partridge moruna or the trumpeter bullfinch among others stand out.In steeper areas there is the common kestrel, the crow canary or the guirre majonero.

The mountain of Tindaya has always been surrounded by a halo of magic, it is an area of high archaeological value and vestiges of the celebration of magical or religious rites have been found. Nearby is the Cueva del Bailadero de las Brujas or the Caves of the Bailaderos de Los Pastores.

Place: La Oliva

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