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In the immediate hinterland of the southern coastline of the province of Alicante, nature still has a free hand. The Sierra de Escalona protected nature reserve covers more than 10,000 hectares and is home to a wide variety of vegetation and animals. The strip of land goes from San Miguel de Salinas south along the Orihuela Costa to Pilar de la Horadada and is the responsibility of those three municipalities.
The protected area continues in the province of Murcia under the name Sierra de Carrasco and covers a much larger area around Murcia, Fuente Alamo and Alhama de Murcia.
The importance of the two Sierras is manifold. First and foremost, it is an ideal walking area for residents or visitors to the region. On the wikilocs website, interested parties can choose from a number of different interesting routes, which can be followed. In addition, the hilly areas are of great ecological importance for both provinces. In addition to the salt lakes around Torrevieja and San Pedro del Pinatar, it provides an ideal habitat for many bird species and a range of reptiles and mammals.
Of the two Sierras, the section in the province of Alicante is the easiest for walkers. The area with many pine trees, Mediterranean shrubs, many plants with both medicinal and gastronomic uses and rocks of sand and limestone, is nowhere higher than 366 meters above sea level. A narrow ridge runs through the area. While walking, you usually have a good view of the area. The part in Murcia has a similar vegetation, but is more sloping in character and reaches slightly above 1,000 meters. Here, too, there is a walk along many pine trees, but the walker will also find almond, olive and citrus trees in the more cultivated areas.
The wealth of bird species throughout the area will be a major draw for many nature lovers. Especially many birds of prey such as hawks, owls and eagles hunt there. This of course means that there must be a large supply of prey. The variety of smaller birds is indeed strikingly large and will certainly appeal to bird watchers.
In addition to many smaller mammals and reptiles, perhaps the most appealing inhabitants are the wild cat and the genet cat. Nowhere are the populations of these animals as large in Spain as in the sadly still underrated sierras of Alicante and Murcia.
