Portal de Turismo de Castilla y León

Welcome to the Garagüeta Holly Forest Nature Reserve Visitors’ Centre.

This audio guide contains tracks with the information in each room. The end of each track is signalled by the sound you will hear now, once when the information changes topic:

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And twice when the room changes. [SOUND SAMPLE] [SOUND SAMPLE]

After the sound, you can choose to continue to the next audio track.

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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, you will learn about the Nature Reserve, and it will 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 in the town Arévalo de la Sierra. It is in the town’s old schoolteachers’ house.

The building has three floors and has been rebuilt recently.

The centre has a patio at the front with stone floor and a wooden railing with wire netting. A ramp beside the left wall leads to the facility’s entrance, where there is a green holly plant.

The façade is divided in two parts. The first one, to the left, is made of stone and has two floors. On the ground floor, from left to right, there is a single glass and metal door, a double glass door, a narrow window and another single glass door. On either side of the stone façade, there are two adjoining grey benches. They are two metres long and 50 centimetres tall and wide. There is a barrel below the window. This area has a cafeteria. The windows on the first floor are long, narrow and barred.

The second part of the façade, on the right-hand third, is made entirely of glass, from floor to ceiling. It is made of glass panels between burgundy-coloured steel columns.

In front of the glass façade, the patio floor is made of wood, with loose stones to the right. A sign at the back, to the left, beside the façade, reads "Garagüeta Holly Forest, the largest holly forest in Europe". The sign has a drawing of a house with a horse and a cow on standing on their hind legs on either side. There is a hole where their face should be, for photos. The house also has a hole in the door, and above it there is a bird flying with a holly branch in its beak.

Beside the sign, there is another identical grey bench against the wall at the back of the patio.

To enter the centre, use the glass door.

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To the right of the entrance, there is a round table with two chairs.

The green shop display is connected to the wall. There you can buy typical products from the area or souvenirs.

The reception desk is next. Here, the centre’s workers will help you to plan your visit.

After the desk, there is a staircase leading upwards, then a seasonal exhibitions room and, lastly, the lift.

On the left wall, there is another display with holly decorations and a screen on the stone wall. The rest of this wall is made of windows overlooking the cafeteria. The screen shows a video about the Network of Nature Areas in Castilla and León and three others related to holly trees.

Castilla and León, one of the largest regions in Spain, stands out due to the exceptional richness of its nature. It has a strategic geographical location, with notable contrasts and diverse environments. It provides extraordinary biological variety and landscapes across more than 94,000km2, serving as a refuge for numerous endangered species. To preserve this natural heritage the Network of Nature Areas in Castilla and León was established in 1991. It is known as the "REN". This network represents ecosystems in Castilla and in León in an ideal state of conservation, while also exemplifying sustainable development practices. Made up of 33 protected natural areas which cover 820,000 hectares, the network includes 2 national parks, 2 regional parks, 14 nature parks, 5 nature reserves, 8 nature monuments and 2 protected landscapes, it stands out due to its ecological, geological and landscape values.

Now, go up to the next floor using the stairs or the lift.

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You will come to the first-floor lobby, where the right wall adjacent to the stairs is made entirely of glass and leads to the library.

The lift is after it. The front wall, opposite the stairs, has a plastic curtain which divides the two sections with a narrow column in the middle. Both the curtain and the column have an image of a rocky valley with a post showing "Holly Forest room". This image is a real photo of the Garagüeta Holly Forest entrance.

Next, a stone wall extends to the outer window. There is a screen on it showing videos about the bioclimatic construction of the building.

Beside the glass façade, there is a bench against the window. The fourth wall, between the window and the stairs, has panels attached to it which cover the topics of Ecological Construction, Renewable Energy, Climatic Construction and Traditional Construction.

Right in front of these panels, a table holds a model which represents wind turbines, a symbol of renewable energy and a constant in the landscape in front of the Visitors’ Centre.

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Now go into the holly forest room, through the curtain to the left of the central column.

This room is long and rectangular. It has panels on all the walls which have photos and information about the holly forest.

A voice-over presents an audio-guided tour, where lights shine on the first panel to start the audio tour. The transition between panels is done with lights, turning off on the finished panel and lighting up the next one to be explained. This uninterrupted transition creates continuity between the panels and voice-over, with the lighting of the panels being the only transition system.

The first panel to light up is to the left, near the door. It is titled "Arévalo, Torrearévalo and Ventosa", with sections about traditions and legends, as well as mountain livestock farmers.

When the audio guide ends, it says: "The holly provides an excellent shelter, both in summer and winter, especially in a place hidden from the eyes of the observer under the canopies of this unique forest. It is the Sestil. Will you come with us to find out more?". Go through the curtain at the back of the room.

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Behind the curtain is a rectangular room which is decorated with photos of the inside of a sestil on the walls. It is a typical formation in the holly forests. In the centre-right of the room, there is a full-sized model of a cow.

Beside the cow, you can go into another rectangular room with four chairs lined up in the middle, looking at the left wall. In this space there is a video projected about the holly forest.

The presentation sends with the sentences: "Behind the cover of this sestil, autumn awaits with its fruits and winter with each footprint. Will you come with us?"

When the video ends, a light comes on above a closed door which is covered by a black plastic curtain, showing the entrance to the next room.

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You will come into a long rectangular room, identical to the first one.

As in the last room, the walls are covered with panels and in the middle of the room, there is a table with a model of the Holly Forest Nature Reserve.

On the floor to the left, there is a pile of stones under a picture of rocky ground.

To the right, there are panels covered with photos of holly. The audio guide is activated in the same way as the first room, with lights turning on and off on the panels.

On wall opposite the entrance, to the left of the exit, there is a screen showing a video.

Once it ends, leave the room and go back to the first-floor lobby.

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Go up to the next floor.

The second floor has a metal railing to the right which forms a gallery over the library on the first floor, followed by the lift.

This floor has a long, rectangular, sloping room with the ceiling held up by wooden beams which intersect across and along the ceiling.

To the left, near the stairs, there is a model on a vase which shows a hillside with cattle and a hut on the top.

The room is divided in two areas, separated by a longitudinal ribbon between two metal posts.

On the right, there is a row of the old desks from the school that was in this building. They face the back of the room, where there is a teacher’s desk and a display with a black and white photo of Julián Sanz del Río, who this floor is named after.

On the left, three rows of chairs face the back, where there is a screen on a table.

This room displays the Memory Corner. It shows the history, culture and traditions of the last generations of the local population.

At the back of the room, in the middle, there is a small screen with two short videos. The first one is about Julián Sanz del Río, a distinguished resident from Torrearevalo. Julián Sanz del Río was a philosopher and lawyer. He is recognised as one of the most influential people in Spanish philosophy in the 19th century. A disciple of Karl Krause, he played a crucial role as one of the first law professors in the University of Madrid. There he spread Krausism, a determining trend in the reform of education in Spain and Latin America. The second video is about transhumance, a very important activity in the whole region.

Other panels cover the traditions, legends and practices linked to the holly forest. You will also find "Arca de Torre and Arévalo", which holds medieval manuscripts on the regulation of the uses of the Garagüeta holly forest. The legend of Mortero has a special place.

Lastly, they mention the Celtiberian heritage. The Garagüeta holly forest and the Oncala-Valtajeros holly forest are in the Montes Claros region, which has numerous pre-Roman findings of Celtiberian origin. These places were inhabited centuries ago by tribes known as Pellendones. Currently, these settlements are signposted and connected by the short PR-SO 69 trail.

On the back wall, there is an accessible toilet.

his audio track ends your visit to the Garagüeta Holly Forest Visitors’ Centre. It aims to be a reference centre which shows the importance of holly forests on these mountains, which have the most extensive forests in the Iberian system. It highlights the Garagüeta Holly Forest Nature Reserve Visitors’ Centre and other nearby holly forests, such as Dehesa de Oncala.

If you would like more information, you can go to the display at reception or talk to any of the people working in the visitors’ centre.

Thanks for your visit.