The Cuenca Alta del Manzanares Regional Park, created in 1985, is the natural space protected area with the largest extension in the Community of Madrid (Spain) and one of the most ecologically and scenically valuable. It is located in the northwest of the region and extends around the upper course of the Manzanares River, along 42 583 ha. Its main municipalities of reference are Manzanares el Real and Hoyo de Manzanares. Unesco declared it a Biosphere Reserve in 1992.
It is located on the southern slopes of the Sierra de Guadarrama, with the exception of Monte de El Pardo and its eastern appendix, the Soto de Viñuelas, which are located in the detritic plain, characteristic of the Southern Subplateau. It has numerous ecosystems, among which pine forests, holm oak groves, juniper groves, rockrose groves, melojares and wetlands stand out.
Legal framework
The Cuenca Alta del Manzanares Regional Park was established in 1985 by Law 1/1985, of January 23, 1985, and has undergone several subsequent modifications. The most important ones correspond to the years 1987 and 1991, when extensions were promoted.
The park has a Master Plan for Use and Management (in Spanish, Plan Rector de Uso y Gestión or PRUG), approved in 1987 and revised in 1995, which regulates the various sites included, with the exception of Monte de El Pardo, which depends on Patrimonio Nacional. This organism, which administers the assets that were in the hands of the Spanish Crown, maintains a highly protectionist and restrictive management around El Pardo and completely prevents its visit, beyond certain areas located in the southern part of the wall that borders it.
On February 15, 1993, the Cuenca Alta del Manzanares regional park was declared a Biosphere Reserve by Unesco and, later, Monte de Viñuelas, which lies to the east of the park, was recognized as a Special Protection Area for Birds (SPA). In addition, the two large reservoirs within the park, Santillana reservoir and El Pardo reservoir, are protected by Law 7/1990, of June 28, on the Protection of Reservoirs and Wetlands of the Community of Madrid.
La Pedriza had, since 1930, a special level of protection, through the figure of Natural Site of National Interest, which was repealed in 1985 with the creation of the current park. In 1979 a nature park was created around the upper valley of the Manzanares River, with an area of 4304 ha—in practice, it was a timid extension around the protected area of La Pedriza—which can be considered the closest predecessor of the Cuenca Alta del Manzanares regional park.
The ownership of the land corresponded in 65%, to individuals, 22% belongs to the Community of Madrid and 7% to the Spanish State. The remaining 6% was in the hands of the different integrated municipalities. This natural area is twinned with the national parks of Sierra de La Culata and Sierra Nevada, both in Venezuela, within an international collaboration and exchange program.
In 2013, following the declaration of the Guadarrama National Park, the boundaries of the Cuenca Alta del Manzanares regional park were affected: the parts of the Peñalara Natural Park not absorbed by the national park were incorporated into the regional park (an area in the municipality of Rascafría), however the regional park also experienced surface area losses in favor of the national park, as the southern slope of the Cuerda Larga and the La Pedriza site. As of 2018 its extension would be 42 583 ha.
Urban geography
The northern limit of the Cuenca Alta del Manzanares regional park is La Pedriza. The Monte de El Pardo occupies its southern part, practically surrounding the urban area of Madrid, up to the border with the M-40 highway; and the A-6 highway, to the west, and the A-1 highway, to the east.
The site is located in eighteen municipalities, through which it runs in whole or in part. They are listed alphabetically as follows: Alcobendas, Becerril de la Sierra, Cercedilla, Collado Villalba Colmenar Viejo, El Boalo, Galapagar, Hoyo de Manzanares, Las Rozas de Madrid, Madrid, Manzanares el Real, Miraflores de la Sierra, Moralzarzal, Navacerrada, San Sebastián de los Reyes, Soto del Real, Torrelodones and Tres Cantos.
Of these, only three—Hoyo de Manzanares, Manzanares el Real and Tres Cantos (except for the Soto de Viñuelas and Nuevo Tres Cantos developments)—have fully integrated population centers. Other urban areas are also fully included within the park, such as Los Peñascales (Torrelodones) and Las Matas, a district of Las Rozas de Madrid.