Portal de Turismo de Castilla y León

Welcome to the Neila Glacier Lagoon Nature Park Visitors’ Centre

Just like the rest of the park visitors’ centres, all throughout the region of Castilla and León, this is the recommended access point for these nature areas. At this information centre, monitors will provide information about the Nature Park and help you to plan your visit.

Here, you can find information about the signature species and habitats, to help you identify and appreciate the cultural and natural heritage in a respectful way. It promotes the conservation and appreciation of biodiversity and cultural heritage.

This visitors’ centre is inside the old Romanesque San Miguel church which was named as a site of cultural interest by the Castilla and León council.

The centre does not have toilets inside. If you need them, take the street to the right and go to the building 50 metres away. To access them, ask for a key at reception.

A municipality in Burgos, located in the Demanda mountain range region. To the north of the Neila mountains, 1163 metres above sea level, the town is located where three provinces meet: Burgos, Soria and La Rioja. Surrounded by high mountains, Neila is the heart of the mountain with traditional architecture. The area is divided into three neighbourhoods: San Miguel, La Pinilla and Santa María, where the Najerilla river starts and the San Miguel neighbourhood is located, and where the drovers' road passes.

Strangely, Neila means water current, a very important element in these high mountain areas, healthy forests, green meadows and high rocks.

Go into the church. The visit starts here, with an interpretation of the artistic heritage of the San Miguel church.

The inside of the centre has the oldest slabs, dated to the Roman period in Burgos. It also has two inscriptions which reference the consecration of the temple, located outside in the wild fruit and medicinal-aromatic plant garden. The slabs show the date of the church’s construction: in the year 1087.

One of the inscriptions, originally located in the apse, was moved to the exterior due to the run-down state of the church, which put it at risk. The other inscription the consecration of the temple and the transition from the Visigoth rite to the Roman rite in the 11th century. This dates the church as one of the first, if not the first, to carry out consecration in the modern rite.

As well as the base of the tower, the apse stands out as the most impressive Roman element. It is built out of red sandstone, a stone characteristic of Neila which has elements of iron in its composition, making it harder and more difficult to sculpt than white sandstone.

Inside the apse, there are two sections: the first is a half-barrel vault with two winged lions, mythological beasts discovered after a meticulous restoration and the removal of three layers of limescale. The second section, named the quarter sphere vault, hosts the representation of the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus, captured in a fresco with biblical texts.

Other elements that stand out are the capitals on the arched windows, made by the Santo Domingo de Silos quarry workers.

There are four Romanesque windows in the apse. The two middle capitals draw your attention on the middle window. The left capital has two horses linked by both hands, while the right capital has a griffin at the front and a mythological bird in the inner part. Both drink from a container known as a crater. When you drink from it, you are granted with eternal life.

Traces of the old door to the Roman vestry have been preserved. It was small, just two metres squared, but it was torn down and closed when they built the new sacristy in the 16th century. They also added two lateral benches for nobles in the 16th century. These nobles, with great economic power thanks to the wool trade which was very popular in places like Wales, paid considerable sums of money to sit close to the alter and decided to build these benches in the apse.

Something else that was added in the 16th is the three rungs which go from one end of the apse to the other, representing the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Now, go towards the sacristy. The ceiling is a ribbed vault with Gothic figures. A documentary about the Neila Glacier Lagoon Nature Park is projected here.

Stand with your back to the entrance. To the right is the Visitors’ Centre reception desk, and to the left is the San Miguel church baptismal font and a stand with the green shop, where you can buy souvenirs and local products.

Visits to this centre revolve around water, the element which the town is named after and which is present throughout the exhibition. That’s why the first thing shown is the Roman hemispherical baptismal font, made solely from red sandstone, it’s strength and quality come from the material itself.

At the base of the font, there is a coiled snake, a symbol of original sin, alongside an icon which symbolises water and the transition to eternal life. The centre has a bull adorned with palm leaves, while the upper part is decorated with garlands and tendrils, creating an image which evokes paradise.

Follow the right wall to a map of the Nature Park where the history of Neila is highlighted, along with other places of interest and the glacier model. In front of the map there are three interactive activities in the centre of the room, which are about the evolution of the landscape, the Natura 2000 network and the nature park.

Go over to the first interactive activity, made of sliding panels and interactive screens with relevant information.

Neila’s geomorphological history goes back about 540 million years, during the Paleozoic age, to the formation of rocks as slates and quartzites. The slates were formed by thin clay sediments which were subjected to high pressures and temperatures, resulting in a brownish compact and hard rock which is different to typical black slate. The quartzites, to the north of the area, are found below sediments that accumulated before the slates.

During the Mesozoic age, Neila was on the coast and the sea left sediments which, through geological processes, contributed to the formation of sandstone, a prominent stone in the Nature Park and nearby areas. They also formed limescale, soluble rocks which created huge karst, marl and conglomerate formations.

During the alpine orogeny in the Cenozoic age, tectonic pressure raised some of these rocks and sedimentary materials, creating Neila’s current mountain range and other important mountain ranges.

During the Quaternary period, there was a significant climate change which lead to glaciation 10 to 15 thousand years ago. This glacial event left huge blocks of ice at Neila’s higher peaks, which eroded the land, forming cirques, moraines and valleys.

As temperatures rose, the glaciers melted and some of the water got trapped in lakes within the glacial cirques, as long as there was a moraine that acted as a natural dam. The glacial lagoons you can see in Neila now are: Cascada, Negra, Larga, Patos, Brava, Pardillas, Muñalba and Oruga.

Now move on to the next interactive activity. Each page covers a specific place in the park, divided into different bioclimatic layers.

The first is the environment in the town of Neila.

The area near Neila has had notorious human intervention, which has left its mark on the landscape. Until about three decades ago, the slopes were dotted with small fields used for cultivating wheat and rye, the cereals which are best adapted for the mountain’s climate. However, over time and due to the depopulation of rural areas, these fields have been abandoned, gradually allowing for the proliferation of scrubland, such as common broom and retama.

Retama is a straight shrub which stands at more than 2 metres and sticks out due to its angular and sharp branches. It has yellow flowers which grow in bunches during the spring and early summer, supporting biodiversity and adaptability to their environment.

This change has created a mosaic of dispersed shrubs and trees that act as a refuge for local fauna, including field mice, Old World swallowtail butterflies, ocellated lizard and small birds of prey. Although this ecosystem is in decline due to the rapid advance of the forest, it is important to also highlight the presence of diverse riverbank forests fed by streams which converge here. In these forests, there are willows, black poplar and ash trees, as well as dog rose, elmleaf blackberry and mint.

The next level is the forest.

As altitude rises, temperatures drop and there is less human influence, allowing the forest to take control. The diversity of the flora is notable, including beech, oak, yews, holly, maples and wild cherry.

The most predominant tree in the region is currently the European red pine. It is a species of conifer which reaches impressive heights of up to 30 metres and its characteristic straight trunk and orange-coloured bark. Its needles, grouped in pairs are a light green colour and are resistant, staying on the tree for years.

There is a lot of variety in the fauna of the area which is adapted to different habitats. The species which stand out here are the red deer, wild boar, badgers, genets, foxes, weasels, wildcats, Eurasian jay, Eurasian woodcocks, Iberian green woodpeckers, woodpeckers, vultures, kites, golden eagles, short-toed eagles and kestrel, as well as a variety of small birds such as Eurasian blue tits, greenfinch and crossbills.

The different woodland species are distributed in a diverse way in the Nature Park, with pine forests in the south, beech forests in the south and south east, and oak groves in the north. There is a gradual change where the beech trees start to take space from the pine trees, although at the moment they cohabit in a balanced way.

The last level is bioclimatic, with the summits and boulders.

At the highest altitudes, live adapts to severe conditions characterised by strong winds, intense snowfall and low temperatures. The pines trees at this altitude are twisted due to the weight of the snow during the harsh winter. In these areas, lichen and moss are the first to colonise the land, along with high summit pastures used by livestock in the summer.

The fauna in these areas includes amphibians like newts, frogs and toads who are the leading species in the lagoons, some of them are in danger of extinction. Some species present on the summits are typically northern, persisting since the glacial period despite it not being their current area of distribution. A good example is the Iberian desman. It is an aquatic species with the body of a mole, from 14 to 18cm long, with a long mouse-like tail and a long snout with sensitive hairs, called an elephant’s trunk. They have very small eyes which means they cannot see well below water, so they use these sensitive hairs on their trunk to analyse the waves in the water to be able to move around and locate their prey. Their paws are webbed, with membrane between their fingers, but they also have claws. It is known as the platypus of the Iberian peninsula, because its body is a mix of different animals.

At the highest altitudes, there are few species, like the carnivorous great sundew plant, which attracts its prey with a variety of colours and traps with little red hairs which secrete acids to gradually digest the trapped insects. The great sundew, considered one of the Nature Park’s icons, is rare and is only found in seven places on the Iberian peninsula. The Laguna Larga floating peatland, unique on the Iberian peninsula, hosts botanical gems such as moss, carex mimosa and cross-leaved heath.

The third screen in this section presents the Natura 2000 network, a collection of highly ecologically valuable areas in the European Union. The objective of the initiative is to unify the conservation of European nature values through the investigation and management of species and habitats. It is crucial to preserve these habitats to create a favourable environment for the most vulnerable species. The goal of the Natura 2000 network is to assure the long-term survival of the most valuable and endangered species and habitats in Europe.

The entire municipality of Neila is in the special protection area for the conservation of wild birds in the Demanda mountains and 92% of it is in the Site of Community Importance.

Go to the next interactive activity.

The first screen is about the resources surrounding the town.

The traditional and communal use of pastures in Neila originates with the extensive historic cattle, sheep and goat industries which characterised the region and the Neila mountains. Although the ranching tradition has significantly decreased in recent years, it is still present in the area. Local meadows have different types of mushrooms, the ones that stand out are the St. George's mushroom, cultivated mushroom, fairy ring mushroom, parasol mushroom and blewit. These mushrooms are collected by both the residents of Neila and visitors, who search the meadows for these coveted products.

Due to the area’s harsh winters, when the energy value of food is fundamental, some typical dishes are torreznos, garlic soup, preserved pork loin, sweet blood sausage, chorizo, and the classic ajo carretero, a traditional stew made from mutton, garlic and a variety of vegetables.

The second screen shows information on the forest.

The gradual abandoning of the ranching industry has caused a noticeable increase in the amount of trees in Neila in the last century. It has turned wood and pastures for larger livestock, mainly cows, into the main source of income nowadays. Wood is used in a communal way, backed by an "honour" granted by King Carlos IV in the 18th century. It gave the Neila residents the right to use a specific number of pine trees each year. Nowadays, this communal use is regulated by a bylaw from the Castilla and León council.

The municipality is part of the Demanda mountain range game reserve, where the main activity is the hunting of red deer, roe deer and wild boar. The forest also has a variety of exquisite mushrooms.

Lastly, the peaks are a point of interest during different seasons, offering different activities which show of the beauty and versatility of the natural environment. During the spring, you can explore hiking trails and enjoy the rebirth of the landscape. The summer brings the excitement of the Vuelta Ciclista a Burgos race, and opportunities for more hiking trails to discover the landscapes that the area offers.

The autumn paints the landscape with an astonishing pallet of colours, creating the perfect scene to contemplate the different colours of the season and to enjoy the unique sound of the deer rutting season. On the other hand, in winter, you can explore trails in the snow, try ice climbing, and enjoy activities like sledding. All of this around the winter snow and ice formations that form in the area.

Since ancient times, higher areas have been used as summer pasture for livestock. This is because the pasture near the town dries up during the warmer months, forcing them to bring the livestock to pastures which still have green grass. So the seasons in Neila do not just mean climatic changes, they also have unique opportunities to enjoy nature in its different facets throughout the year.

In 1970, an initiative began to transform the lagoons into an area for intensive fishing. The natural moraines formed by the glaciers were made bigger, adding soil with the goal of increasing the capacity for water and creating an adequate habitat for fish farming species, in particular, the brown trout and the rainbow trout. Normally, trout were introduced in the Quintanar fish farm to compensate for those that had been caught.

Fishermen enjoy the challenge of catching these evasive creatures. Equipped with fishing rods, traps and bait, fishermen go to the lagoons, searching for the perfect place to cast their rod.

This activity was kept up from 1970 to 2000, when the added material was removed and they decided to revert the lagoons to the most natural state possible. They restored the original moraines, got rid of the pavement and encouraged visitors to explore the lagoons by foot.

Go over to the middle of the steps up to the apse, to a pedestal with a 3D model of the Nature Park’s topography. A pressure sensor on the base of the model changes the screen from transparent to translucent. When you press the corresponding buttons on the base of the model, five different videos are projected. They show the water in its different forms: waterfalls, natural springs, rivers, snow and lagoons. Each one of these elements is identified through lights in the Nature Park model.

Walk towards the apse. Straight ahead, to the right, is the audiovisual room, in the old sacristy. Here, an 11 minute audiovisual presentation is projected. It follows the main natural and cultural values of the Nature Park, and sometimes it is used as a workshop for group activities.

Go back to the main nave.

On the right wall, opposite the apse, there is another set of sliding panels.

The first covers the concept of humanised landscape and the resources present in said landscape. The next panel is about the control of the forest and focuses on the forest as a source of resources. The third panel is about life at a high altitude and explores the charm of the mountain.

The panel at the back of the system includes three models which represent three types of vegetation and has three buttons. When you press the buttons you can hear ambient sounds which correspond to the different types of life in these three vegetations.

To the right of these panels, towards the entrance, stairs lead to the choir, where you will find the Memory Corner.

Make your way carefully up the stairs.

The "Memory Corner" focuses on transhumance, a significant activity in Neila’s history.

In Autumn, shepherds began an extensive journey approximately 800 kilometres along the drovers' road, arriving in Extremadura to spend the winter. They built bothies with retama and local materials, making the most of abundant pastures. When good weather comes, they go back to Neila, where they reunite with their families. In the summer, they bring the livestock to the mountain pass, sheltering them in bothies made from stone and wood.

This panel includes a monitor with a video which reminisces on the transhumance tradition of the town of Neila through a recreation that the residents have carried out every July for a decade. They recreate the shepherds arriving, shearing of sheep, sale of wool, washing and spinning, and the making of mattresses and cheeses.

The choir also has a panel about the memories of Neila, with old photos which capture agriculture as a means for survival, mainly led by women, with images of sowing, harvesting and threshing. Traditional tools such as a sickle, wooden hand guard and a cuartillo are displayed. Other photos show celebrations such as dances, mayas and typical dress. The Villano and Maya in Neila are danced by the town’s may queens and is a valuable ethnomusical relic. The tradition of naming one or various infant queens in May, and adorning and honouring them is dated back to the 9th century.

Here, you can also see a model of the Nature Park which was made by a girl from the town. It shows the orography, hydrographic network and the dispersal of dominant woodland species.

This audio track ends your visit to the Neila Glacier Lagoon Nature Park Visitors’ Centre, where you can learn more about the town, land, and the importance of water for the whole area.

If you would like more information, you can go to the display at reception or talk to any of the centre’s collaborators.

Thanks for your visit.