Mount Abantos () is a mountain in the

Sierra de Guadarrama The Sierra de Guadarrama (Guadarrama Mountains) is a mountain range forming the main eastern section of the Sistema Central, the system of mountain ranges along the centre of the Iberian Peninsula. It is in Spain, between the systems Sierra de ...

range in the

Sistema Central The Central System, Spanish language, Spanish and , is one of the main systems of mountain ranges in the Iberian Peninsula. The 2,592 m high Pico Almanzor is its highest summit. The Central System is located just north of the 40th parallel north, ...

of Spain, a chain that runs from east to west. For the most part, the mountain is located in the municipality of

San Lorenzo de El Escorial San Lorenzo de El Escorial, also known as El Escorial de Arriba, is a town and municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain, located to the northwest of the region in the southeastern side of the Sierra de Guadarrama, at the foot of Moun ...

in the

Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities and 50 provinces of Spain, provinces of Spain. It is located at the heart of the Iberian Peninsula and Meseta Central, Central Plateau (); its capital and largest munici ...

, with part of its west side in the

province of Ávila A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

Geography

The mountain is one of the most prominent mountains in the Sierra de Guadarrama. It has an altitude of {{convert, 1753, m, ft. The northern slope of Abantos lies in the Cuelgamuros valley. A small part of the west side of the mountain lies in the

(

Castilla y León Castile, Castille or Castilla may refer to: Places Spain * Castile (historical region), a vaguely defined historical region of Spain covering most of Castile and León, all of the Community of Madrid and most of Castilla–La Mancha * Kingdom o ...

). The mountain has a smooth contour, and almost all of its slope is covered by pine trees, some of them repopulated. On the west side of Abantos is the port of Malagon, one of the toughest mountain stages of the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual stage race, multi-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Ital ...

(Tour of Spain).

Etymology

Mount Abantos takes its name from ''abanto'', a name for various species of vultures such as the

black vulture The black vulture (''Coragyps atratus''), also known as the American black vulture, Mexican vulture, zopilote, urubu, or gallinazo, is a bird in the New World vulture family whose range extends from the southeastern United States to Peru, Ce ...

, the

red buzzard Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary ...

, the

griffon vulture The Eurasian griffon vulture (''Gyps fulvus'') is a large Old World vulture in the bird of prey family Accipitridae. It is also known as the griffon vulture, although this term is sometimes used for the genus as a whole. It is not to be confuse ...

or African vulture, which can sometimes be seen flying on the mountain. During the reign of King Philip II, the mountain was also known as ''Buen Monte del Oso'' (lit. ''Good Bear Mountain'') because of the abundance of big game species. At the top of Abantos is a weather station and a yellow electromagnetic signal reflector panel.

Natural Protection

Abantos is protected by the Community of Madrid, through its inclusion in Paraje Pintoresco del Pinar de Abantos y Zona de La Herrería, a natural reserve.

History

In the 16th century, King

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

chose a site on the southern side of Abantos as the site of the Monastery of El Escorial. In the 18th century, the municipality of

was founded. San Lorenzo de El Escorial is now an urban community with a population of over 17,000. On the mountain's northern side is another monument of historical and artistic interest,

Valle de los Caídos The Valley of Cuelgamuros (Spanish: ''Valle de Cuelgamuros''), until 2022 Valley of the Fallen (Spanish: ''Valle de los Caídos''), is a monument in the Sierra de Guadarrama, near Madrid. The valley contains a Catholic basilica and a monumen ...

("Valley of the Fallen"). This monument was erected at Cuelgamuros Valley in the 20th century. The monument was conceived by ''

caudillo A ''caudillo'' ( , ; , from Latin language, Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of Personalist dictatorship, personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise English translation for the term, though it ...

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

as a memorial to those who died during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. On 21 August 1999, a forest fire began on the east side of Abantos, charring over 450

hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. A ...

of pine forest. The burned area has since been repopulated with pine trees. The routes for many Vueltas a España have passed through Abantos, and the mountain has been the final stage for the race on numerous occasions

References

*Translated from the article Monte Abantos on the

Spanish Wikipedia The Spanish Wikipedia () is the Spanish-language edition of Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia. It has articles. Started in May 2001, it reached 100,000 articles on 8 March 2006, and 1,000,000 articles on 16 May 2013. It is the -largest Wikip ...

. Abantos Abantos Abantos

Geography

Etymology

Natural Protection

History

See also

References