Los Monegros is a
comarca in
Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...
,
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. It is located within the provinces of
Zaragoza
Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...
and
Huesca. The area is prone to chronic droughts, and much of the area is a
natural region
A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate.
From the ecological point of view, the naturally occurring flora and ...
made up of
badlands.
Los Monegros borders seven comarcas:
Hoya de Huesca to the North;
Somontano de Barbastro,
Cinca Medio, and
Bajo Cinca to the East;
Zaragoza
Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...
to the West; and
Ribera Baja del Ebro and
Bajo Aragón-Caspe to the South.
General information
The
Sierra de Alcubierre mountain chain crosses the comarca from Northwest to Southeast. Its maximum elevation is 822 meters, at the mountain called ''Oscuro''. The climate is
semiarid, with scarce rainfall and high temperatures in the autumn. The area has numerous
saltwater and
freshwater
Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...
lake
A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...
s, including the Lake of Sariñena and the Lake of la Playa.
The area's cultural heritage includes several historical monasteries, including the
Monasterio de Santa María de Sigena and the
Charterhouse of Las Fuentes.
In December 2007, the local government announced that the comarca had been chosen for the site of the
Gran Scala, a huge European project to build a "destination city of leisure for all ages." Designed to include numerous theme parks and casinos, the area would become one of the primary entertainment centers of Europe.
Territory and population
See also
*
Gran Scala
*
Aragón
*
Comarca
*
Monegros Desert
References
External links
Official webpage of the Comarca of Los Monegros
Official Map
Comarcas of Aragón, Los Monegros
Tourism guide for Los Monegros
Los Monegros seen by Javier Blasco
Salt lakes of Los Monegros
Tourist information
Todo acerca del proyecto Gran Scala Monegros
*
Los Monegros y Gran Scala' - Latest news, photos, video, blog about the "Gran Scala" project in Los Monegros
* https://web.archive.org/web/20080514201501/http://www.monegrosfestival.com/
{{Comarcas of Aragon
Comarcas of Aragon
Geography of the Province of Huesca
Comarcas of the Province of Zaragoza
Natural regions of Spain