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The declaration of the Sierra de las Nieves as a National Park should be "the start of many good things"

The declaration of the Sierra de las Nieves as a National Park should be "the start of many good things"

During his visit this Monday, Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has encouraged others to enjoy the area saying "conserving biodiversity is compatible with economic development"

ANTONIO M. ROMERO

Monday, 31 January 2022, 16:56

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Some seven months after Spain's Official State Gazette (BOE) published the law declaring the Sierra de las Nieves a National Park on 1 July, the Spanish PM, Pedro Sánchez, visited the area this Monday, 31 January. And during his visit it was officially recognised that the end of a claim process, which began more than a century ago, should be "the beginning of many good things" for this part of Malaga province.

Sánchez stressed that being considered a National Park should be "a source of opportunities" for the development of the Sierra de las Nieves since it is "compatible to conserve our biodiversity with economic development, sustainable and quality tourism” and attracting new inhabitants to avoid the problem of depopulation.

The PM added, “I want to celebrate a very important milestone as this is the third National Park in Andalucía (after Doñana and Sierra Nevada), and the sixteenth in Spain, now covering -in total - around half a million hectares.”

At the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the Sierra de las Nieves, located in the town of Tolox, Sánchez met with the mayors of the area prior to a walk through the Sierra de las Nieves National Park, specifically, along the Tajo de la Caina route, in the Yunquera district, where he has been able to see the largest pinsapar forest in Europe.

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Pedro Sánchez, accompanied by the third vice president and minister for the Energy Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, arrived at the headquarters where he was received by the association’s president, Antonio Pérez, the mayor of Tolox, Francisca García, and Elías Bendodo, representing the Junta de Andalucía. Sánchez then met the mayors of thirteen of the fourteen municipalities that make up the Sierra de las Nieves (El Burgo, Yunquera, Tolox, Monda, Istán, Benahavís, Parauta, Alozaina, Casarabonela, Guaro, Igualeja, Ojén and Serrato – only Ronda was absent) for an hour.

In his speech, Pedro Sánchez highlighted the role of the residents over more than a century in achieving the declaration as a National Park, as well as that of the farmers who have "cared for this wonderful area over the years."

Sánchez concluded with an appeal to the Spanish public to come and visit the Sierra de las Nieves National Park.

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