Jurassic mountain district in Burgos and Palencia wins UNESCO status
Friday, May 12, 2017 @ 8:00 PM
SPAIN has acquired a new global heritage site – the rocky mountain nature reserve of Las Loras, which straddles two provinces, has been designated World Geo-Park.
Already one of the European countries with the most UNESCO (United Nations Education, Culture and Science Organisation) sites, the new entry approved in the international body's headquarters in Paris this week is an entire district, or mini-county, covering 16 towns and villages.
The Las Loras district is mostly in the province of Burgos, encompassing 11 towns, with the remainder being in the neighbouring province of Palencia, both in the centre-northern region of Castilla y León.
Burgos is already popular with tourists because of its picturesque provincial capital city of the same name, home to Spain's second-largest and arguably most spectacular cathedral, and also because of its being right in the heart of the Ribera del Duero wine district.
Now, it has another reason for visitors to flock to it.
Las Loras' unusual panorama is made up of chalky rock plains which appear to have been whipped about by the wind and resemble 'spectacular river canyons', according to the application to UNESCO.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com