Alto Tajo Nature Reserve () is a Natural Reserve in

Guadalajara Province Guadalajara ( , ) is a province of Spain, belonging to the autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha. As of 2019 it had a population of 258,890 people. The population of the province has grown in the last 10 years. It is located in the centre ...

of Spain. The park is famous for its canyons and gorges formed by the

Tagus The Tagus ( ; ; ) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales between Cuenca and Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally westward, and empties into the Atlantic Ocean in Lisbon. Name T ...

river and its tributaries which flow through the park, besides its pine forests and imposing cliffs. The park provides the setting for

José Luis Sampedro José Luis Sampedro Sáez (Barcelona, 1 February 1917 – Madrid, 8 April 2013) was a Spanish economist and writer who advocated an economy "more humane, more caring, able to help develop the dignity of peoples". Academician of the Real Academi ...

's novel El río que nos lleva (1961). The park was also one of the filming locations of

Game of Thrones (season 6) The sixth season of the fantasy television drama, drama television series ''Game of Thrones'' premiered on HBO on April 24, 2016, and concluded on June 26. It consists of 10 episodes, each of approximately 50–60 minutes long. Much of the seaso ...

Mining

The park has been threatened by

kaolinite Kaolinite ( ; also called kaolin) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral sheet of alumina () ...

mining, with the government finding it hard to regulate as it contributes to 13.5% of all the jobs in the area and because kaolinite is considered an important mineral in the national economy as it is a raw material in many industries. Currently, two mines are operational in Poveda de la Sierra which affects an area of around 100 hectares. There is also an open mine in Peñalén, where mining has been put on hold. Mining in the area began in the 1960s with an English multinational company called ECC being the sole miner for 20 years before they pulled out of the country. The present mining companies hold a mining right for 90 years and have been reluctant to stop mining without proper compensation. The runoffs from the mines are polluting the Tagus River, besides affecting the fauna in the river.

References

{{Authority control Forests of Spain Tagus basin