**2. History of modern nature conservation in Spain**

#### **2.1. The pioneers: environmental thinking and nature protection between 1862 and 1936**

The deficient state of forests in Spain as a result of unsustainable land-use practices has been acknowledged since the seventeenth century [2]. One of the solutions to preserve forests and associated species, soils and landscapes was the creation of protected, state-owned and managed forests included in the 'Forest Register' in 1862, which in 1896 turned to 'Public Utility Forests', a legal register that persists today. Another solution was the designation of PAs.

In spite of its historical, social and cultural backwardness, Spain was among the first nations in the world to designate NPs, creating a pioneering law on 'national parks' in 1916. Pedro Pidal y Bernaldo de Quirós (1869–1941), a nobleman, mountaineer, environmentalist, senator and personal friend of King Alfonso the XIIIth, was the promoter of the law. According to it, NPs were 'those exceptionally picturesque, forested or wild sites of the [Spanish] territory that the state designates in order to promote their adequate access and to respect the natural beauty of their landscapes, their faunal and floral richness, and their geological or hydrological singularities, avoiding avoiding all destruction or degradation by men effectively. One year later, in 1917, a Royal Decree created two new PA designation categories in the country aimed at those natural sites that merited protection but which were not as environmentally exceptional as NPs: 'Natural Site of National Interest' (NSNI) and 'Natural Monument of National Interest'.

were initially designated to preserve pristine landscapes when impacts from human development started to be conspicuous and widespread [1]. Aesthetic considerations are largely responsible for the mountainous character of initial PAs. The first widely agreed such PA was Yellowstone National Park (NP), designated in 1872 in north-west United States, although some claims are made that Mongolian Bogd Khan Uul NP, designated in 1783, might have been the first modern PA. Whichever the right chronology, the institutionalization of modern PAs can safely be dated by the end of the nineteenth century. The first such PAs were designated under the category of NP in the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. In Europe, Sweden designated the first NP in 1909;

Russia, in 1912; and Switzerland, in 1914 [2]. Spain followed few years later, in 1918.

promoting controlled educational, research and recreational activities.

**2.1. The pioneers: environmental thinking and nature protection between** 

The deficient state of forests in Spain as a result of unsustainable land-use practices has been acknowledged since the seventeenth century [2]. One of the solutions to preserve forests and associated species, soils and landscapes was the creation of protected, state-owned and managed forests included in the 'Forest Register' in 1862, which in 1896 turned to 'Public Utility Forests', a legal register that persists today. Another solution was the designation of PAs.

In spite of its historical, social and cultural backwardness, Spain was among the first nations in the world to designate NPs, creating a pioneering law on 'national parks' in 1916. Pedro Pidal y Bernaldo de Quirós (1869–1941), a nobleman, mountaineer, environmentalist, senator and personal friend of King Alfonso the XIIIth, was the promoter of the law. According to it, NPs were 'those exceptionally picturesque, forested or wild sites of the [Spanish] territory that the state designates in order to promote their adequate access and to respect the natural beauty of their landscapes, their faunal and floral richness, and their geological or hydrological singularities, avoiding avoiding all destruction or degradation by men effectively. One year later, in 1917, a Royal Decree created two new PA designation categories in the country

**2. History of modern nature conservation in Spain**

**1862 and 1936**

100 National Parks - Management and Conservation

Nowadays, NP is among the most widespread PA categories worldwide and virtually every sovereign state has designated NPs in their territories. NP is one of the six (seven?) PA management categories established by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) [3]. Most NPs share some characteristics and aims that are synthesized in the IUCN's definition of 'NP' as 'large natural or near natural areas set aside to protect large-scale ecological processes, along with the complement of species and ecosystems characteristic of the area, which also provide a foundation for environmentally and culturally compatible spiritual, scientific, educational, recreational and visitor opportunities'. NPs normally restrict most human activities within their borders for nature conservation or restoration, although they are not as stringent as Reserves (IUCN's management Category I), allowing and even The National Park Central Junta was created that year and, in 1918, the history of Spanish NPs began with the designation of the first two NPs in July and August of 1918, respectively: Montaña de Covadonga NP, designated over 16,925 ha in the Cantabrian mountain range in northern Spain and Valle de Ordesa NP, covering 2046 ha in the Pyrenean range in north-eastern Spain [1]. Both were mountainous NPs designated primarily on landscape grounds. Other PAs, chiefly mountainous sites or geologically original sites, were slowly and sparsely designated across the country under different legal categories from 1918, progressively expanding

**Figure 1.** Extract from the Spanish law on National Parks from 1916.

site protection at a time when nature conservation was an eccentric idea of the minority elites [2] (**Figure 1**).

conservation policies. The central government retained competency for basic, common nature conservation policies, including NP designation and management. Several heterogeneous and insufficiently coordinated regional nature conservation policies, laws, criteria and PA designations from the early 1980s arose [1]. Numerous PAs were regionally designated across the country using the state's law from 1975 or newly passed regional laws in that decade, although those PAs included just one NP: Garajonay, in the Canary Islands, in 1981. In that decade, the first PAs deriving from European legislation, namely Special Protection Areas (SPAs), for the protection of wild bird species [4] started to be designated after the accession of Spain to the European Economic Community in 1985. In 1989, a new basic law on nature conservation including contemporary (and still relevant) conservation principles and concepts, such as natural resource planning, PA buffer zones, genetic diversity preservation, local socioeconomic development or invasive species' control, was passed. It devoted a specific chapter to NPs. It stated that the designation of NPs will be on grounds of the nation's general interest

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and based on the representativity of Spanish 'natural (eco)systems'.

them, 12 were NPs [1].

**2.6. PA expansion and administrative battle for the management of NPs: 1990s**

**2.7. The consolidation of site conservation and management policies: 2000–2017**

regions, their governance is shared between the involved administrations.

As a result of new appeals by regional governments, in 2005, the Constitutional Court sentenced that NP management was an exclusive competency of autonomous regions in Spain and just bestowed basic network coordination competencies to the central government including common managerial priorities and guidelines through the Master Plan for NPs, since then, two specific national laws on NPs acknowledging those changes have been developed (in 2007 and 2014) and a comprehensive law on natural heritage and biodiversity conservation and use was also passed in 2007. Currently, NP management corresponds entirely to the Spanish regional governments where NPs are located. If NPs are located between different

The autonomous regions appealed against the central government's exclusive management of Spanish NPs as stated in the 1989 law and, in 1995, the Constitutional Court established a shared management and financing system of NPs between the central government and regional governments. A new law on nature conservation from 1997 accounted for that judicial decision and established shared designation (NP continued to be designated by the Spanish parliament though with the acceptance of regional parliaments), management and financing of Spanish NPs between the central government and the regional governments where NPs were located. That law also created the Master Plan for NPs, for setting up common management priorities, and the NP Council for the mixed administration of NPs. Three NPs were designated in that decade, alongside many other 'national' and 'European' PAs (including Sites of Community Importance—SCIs-derived from the Habitats Directive, from 1992): Cabrera Archipelago NP (in the Balearic Islands, in 1991. It was the first Spanish NP including some marine area); Cabañeros NP (in central Spain, in 1995); and Sierra Nevada NP (in Andalusia, in 1999). By 1999, there were 611 PAs in Spain covering some 3,332,000 ha. Of

#### **2.2. Civil war and economic emergency: 1936–1955**

By 1936, the year when the last Spanish civil war started, there were 18 PAs from four categories (NPs, National Sites, NSNIs and Natural Monuments of National Interest) covering 33,500 ha [1]. After the war, economically profitable land uses were promoted by the new authoritarian government at the expense of 'unproductive' nature conservation uses, in a context of extreme economic crisis and resource shortage for many citizens, including food and other basic commodities. Only one new PA (NSNI of Sanabria Lake) was designated (1946) before the new impulse taken by the NP policy, in the mid-1950s. In that decade, three new NPs were designated in peripheral regions: Teide NP (11,866 ha, in 1954) and Caldera de Taburiente NP (3500 ha, in 1954) in the Canary Islands, and Aguastortas y Lago de San Mauricio (9851 ha, in 1955) in Catalonia.

#### **2.3. Economic recovery, nature conservation stagnation: 1955–1970**

Another long period of stagnation of nature conservation policies took place between 1955 and 1970, when the socioeconomic progress of the country was significant. The only remarkable conservation milestone from that period was the designation of Doñana NP, thanks to considerable inner and international pressure, in 1969. With 39,225 ha, it was the biggest PA of Spain and accounted for nearly 40% of all protected area in the country by 1970: 103,000 ha [1].

#### **2.4. New times for nature conservation: 1970–1980**

In the 1970s, more progressive social thinking, decent life conditions and realization of human impacts on the environment from previous years of massive unsustainable development resulted in a substantial boost of nature conservation policies. The National Institute for Nature Conservation (ICONA), tasked with forest administration and nature conservation activities, including PA management, was created in 1971. In just 2 years (1973–1974), five new PAs were designated, including two NPs: Tablas de Daimiel (in 1973, in central Spain) and Timanfaya (in 1974, in the Canary Islands). In 1975, the first modern law on PAs was passed. It introduced, alongside NPs, new PA categories, most of which are still in force, such as Reserve or Nature Park, and repealed most previous categories, which were subsequently re-categorized. From that year on until 1980, the protected area in Spain nearly doubled, with more than 200,000 ha, which included new PA designations and substantial expansions of existing PAs, such as NPs. Some peripheral protection zones around NPs were additionally designated to buffer the influence of external human uses from surrounding territories [1].

#### **2.5. The administrative transition period: 1980–1989**

The Spanish democratic constitution of 1978 established that the autonomous regions (17 regions plus 2 autonomous cities) and not the central government were competent for nature conservation policies. The central government retained competency for basic, common nature conservation policies, including NP designation and management. Several heterogeneous and insufficiently coordinated regional nature conservation policies, laws, criteria and PA designations from the early 1980s arose [1]. Numerous PAs were regionally designated across the country using the state's law from 1975 or newly passed regional laws in that decade, although those PAs included just one NP: Garajonay, in the Canary Islands, in 1981. In that decade, the first PAs deriving from European legislation, namely Special Protection Areas (SPAs), for the protection of wild bird species [4] started to be designated after the accession of Spain to the European Economic Community in 1985. In 1989, a new basic law on nature conservation including contemporary (and still relevant) conservation principles and concepts, such as natural resource planning, PA buffer zones, genetic diversity preservation, local socioeconomic development or invasive species' control, was passed. It devoted a specific chapter to NPs. It stated that the designation of NPs will be on grounds of the nation's general interest and based on the representativity of Spanish 'natural (eco)systems'.

#### **2.6. PA expansion and administrative battle for the management of NPs: 1990s**

site protection at a time when nature conservation was an eccentric idea of the minority elites

By 1936, the year when the last Spanish civil war started, there were 18 PAs from four categories (NPs, National Sites, NSNIs and Natural Monuments of National Interest) covering 33,500 ha [1]. After the war, economically profitable land uses were promoted by the new authoritarian government at the expense of 'unproductive' nature conservation uses, in a context of extreme economic crisis and resource shortage for many citizens, including food and other basic commodities. Only one new PA (NSNI of Sanabria Lake) was designated (1946) before the new impulse taken by the NP policy, in the mid-1950s. In that decade, three new NPs were designated in peripheral regions: Teide NP (11,866 ha, in 1954) and Caldera de Taburiente NP (3500 ha, in 1954) in the Canary Islands, and Aguastortas y Lago de San

Another long period of stagnation of nature conservation policies took place between 1955 and 1970, when the socioeconomic progress of the country was significant. The only remarkable conservation milestone from that period was the designation of Doñana NP, thanks to considerable inner and international pressure, in 1969. With 39,225 ha, it was the biggest PA of Spain and accounted for nearly 40% of all protected area in the country by 1970: 103,000 ha [1].

In the 1970s, more progressive social thinking, decent life conditions and realization of human impacts on the environment from previous years of massive unsustainable development resulted in a substantial boost of nature conservation policies. The National Institute for Nature Conservation (ICONA), tasked with forest administration and nature conservation activities, including PA management, was created in 1971. In just 2 years (1973–1974), five new PAs were designated, including two NPs: Tablas de Daimiel (in 1973, in central Spain) and Timanfaya (in 1974, in the Canary Islands). In 1975, the first modern law on PAs was passed. It introduced, alongside NPs, new PA categories, most of which are still in force, such as Reserve or Nature Park, and repealed most previous categories, which were subsequently re-categorized. From that year on until 1980, the protected area in Spain nearly doubled, with more than 200,000 ha, which included new PA designations and substantial expansions of existing PAs, such as NPs. Some peripheral protection zones around NPs were additionally designated to buffer the influence of external human uses from sur-

The Spanish democratic constitution of 1978 established that the autonomous regions (17 regions plus 2 autonomous cities) and not the central government were competent for nature

[2] (**Figure 1**).

102 National Parks - Management and Conservation

**2.2. Civil war and economic emergency: 1936–1955**

Mauricio (9851 ha, in 1955) in Catalonia.

**2.4. New times for nature conservation: 1970–1980**

**2.5. The administrative transition period: 1980–1989**

rounding territories [1].

**2.3. Economic recovery, nature conservation stagnation: 1955–1970**

The autonomous regions appealed against the central government's exclusive management of Spanish NPs as stated in the 1989 law and, in 1995, the Constitutional Court established a shared management and financing system of NPs between the central government and regional governments. A new law on nature conservation from 1997 accounted for that judicial decision and established shared designation (NP continued to be designated by the Spanish parliament though with the acceptance of regional parliaments), management and financing of Spanish NPs between the central government and the regional governments where NPs were located. That law also created the Master Plan for NPs, for setting up common management priorities, and the NP Council for the mixed administration of NPs. Three NPs were designated in that decade, alongside many other 'national' and 'European' PAs (including Sites of Community Importance—SCIs-derived from the Habitats Directive, from 1992): Cabrera Archipelago NP (in the Balearic Islands, in 1991. It was the first Spanish NP including some marine area); Cabañeros NP (in central Spain, in 1995); and Sierra Nevada NP (in Andalusia, in 1999). By 1999, there were 611 PAs in Spain covering some 3,332,000 ha. Of them, 12 were NPs [1].

#### **2.7. The consolidation of site conservation and management policies: 2000–2017**

As a result of new appeals by regional governments, in 2005, the Constitutional Court sentenced that NP management was an exclusive competency of autonomous regions in Spain and just bestowed basic network coordination competencies to the central government including common managerial priorities and guidelines through the Master Plan for NPs, since then, two specific national laws on NPs acknowledging those changes have been developed (in 2007 and 2014) and a comprehensive law on natural heritage and biodiversity conservation and use was also passed in 2007. Currently, NP management corresponds entirely to the Spanish regional governments where NPs are located. If NPs are located between different regions, their governance is shared between the involved administrations.

In the last two decades, the Spanish terrestrial PA network has largely been completed with plentiful national and European PA designations. Currently, Spain has 1958 'national' PAs that cover 13% of the Spanish terrestrial territory. Three NPs were the last ones to be added to the NP network: Atlantic Islands (in Galicia, in 2002), Monfragüe NP (in Extremadura, in 2007) and Sierra de Guadarrama (in Madrid, in 2013). The 15 NPs existing by the end of 2017 cover 385,000 ha. By 2016, there were also 1865 Natura 2000 sites (SPAs, SCIs and Special Areas of Conservation) which covered 27.32% of the Spanish land territory [5], largely exceeding international PA coverage targets of 17% for terrestrial ecosystems at national scale [6]. From 2010, important effort is being made to also adequately protect marine biodiversity, according to the internationally agreed marine protected area coverage target of 10% [6]. As a result, 39 new marine SPAs were designated across the Spanish Exclusive Economic Zone in 2014. Those, together with other existing marine and coastal PAs, make approximately 12% of the marine environment under Spanish jurisdiction protected by 2017 [7].

#### **2.8. Next steps**

Though the Spanish terrestrial PA network can be considered close to completion, considerable effort must still be put in adequately managing those sites, including developing customized management plans and implementing regular surveillance and monitoring of biodiversity and other relevant conservation features consistently [8]. Also, effort should be made to ensure that an adequate representation of the Spanish natural systems established in the law on NPs of 2007 [9], especially steppe, desert and marine systems, is included in the NP network. Work is underway to designate two new NPs in Spain: Sierra de las Nieves NP in Andalusia, which would add to medium and high Mediterranean mountain ecosystem representation in the network, and Mar de las Calmas, in El Hierro, Canary Islands, which would become the first entirely marine NP. Finally, completion of the Spanish marine PA network according to the best available evidence on biodiversity and evolving international targets is still a pending task.

NP, are still being managed by the central government through the NP Autonomous Body (OAPN). The overall state's investment in the Spanish NP Network was approximately €89 million in 2015 [12]. The NP Network is funded by the regional administrations for most ordinary expenses and by the central OAPN, which chiefly finances common actions across the Network including monitoring, research, volunteering, local socioeconomic subsidies, training and dissemination. In contrast to some other countries where entrance fees to NPs apply to all visitors or just to foreign visitors, fees do not apply in Spanish NPs and entrance is free of charge although regulated in order not to exceed the carrying capacity of protected

**Area (ha) Biogeographic region Main ecosystem protected**

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mountain

mountain

The main official aims of Spanish NPs are (1) ensuring the long-term conservation of biodiversity and cultural features; (2) supporting public use; (3) promoting scientific knowledge on their natural and cultural assets; (4) encouraging social environmental awareness; (5) exchanging experience and knowledge on sustainable development; (6) training and capacity building of staff working in NPs; and (7) participating in international programmes and networks. We could probably add an eighth aim, included in the current law on NPs, which deals with 'promoting local socioeconomic development' [10]. For this, a substantial part of the annual budget of the NP Network provided by the OAPN for common actions across the

ecosystems (**Figure 2**).

**National Park Designation** 

Aigüestortes i estany de Sant

Maurici

**year**

Picos de Europa 1918 67,127 Atlantic High Atlantic mountain Ordesa y Monte Perdido 1918 15,608 Alpine High Alpine mountain

Caldera de Taburiente 1954 4690 Macaronesian Canarian pine forest

Doñana 1969 54,252 Mediterranean Coastal wetland Tablas de Daimiel 1973 3030 Mediterranean Inland wetland Timanfaya 1974 5107 Macaronesian Volcanic badlands Garajonay 1981 3984 Macaronesian Laurel forest

Teide 1954 18,990 Macaronesian High Macaronesian mountain

Archipiélago de Cabrera 1991 10,021 Mediterranean Mediterranean sea and coast

Cabañeros 1995 40,856 Mediterranean Mediterranean forest Sierra Nevada 1999 85,883 Mediterranean High Mediterranean

Islas Atlánticas 2002 8480 Atlantic Atlantic sea and coast Monfragüe 2007 18,396 Mediterranean Mediterranean forest Sierra de Guadarrama 2013 33,960 Mediterranean High Mediterranean

**Table 1.** Main characteristics of the 15 National Parks in Spain by September of 2017.

1955 14,119 Alpine High Alpine lakes
