National Park System, Spain

In 1918, Spain established the National Park of Covadonga Mountain as the first national park in the country. It is home to golden eagles, bank beavers and wild wolves, and it was later renamed the National Park of the Picos de Europa. Under Spanish Law 41/1997, the Spanish government established a new model of shared management of the national parks between the national and the regional governments (or autonomous community governments). Spain now has 14 national parks, which are managed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment. Dofiana National Park covers an area of 758 km² and is Spain’s largest national park. Garajonay National Park was listed as a cultural heritage site in 1986, while Dofiana National Park (1994) and Teide National Park (2007) were included in the World Heritage List as natural heritage sites.