Sierra Nevada’s rich biodiversity, together with ist spectacular landscapes, are among the reasons why this massif received the most important acknowledgements for a protected area: Biosphere reserve (1986), Nature park (1989) and National park (1999). With a surface of 86,208 ha this is Spain’s largest national park.
Sierra Nevada represents the Spanish ecosystems connected with the mediterranean medium-high mountain: almost 30% of peninsular Spain’s flora can be found here. This mountain is a botanical paradise: about 2100 taxa of vascular plants are currently catalogued in Sierra Nevada; furthermore, many of them are specific of this massif. The endemisms of Sierra Nevada, which are to be found nowhere else in the world, are more than 80, and on the mountain edges within the park, about 30-40% of the flora is exclusive.
The fauna is especially connected with high-mountain habitats: amphibians, reptiles, mammals, birds and a rich entomofauna; the iberian ibex is the most characteristic inhabitant of the park.
