The region of Los Pedroches is a truly natural area, perfectly defined by its geology, flora, fauna and traditions. This valley, which the Moors called Fahs al Ballut, or valley of acorns, is actually a large plain with gentle slopes, carved out by the erosion of a large band of granite stretching from Extremadura to Jaen.

The granite gave rise to the stone villages that give the region its unique identity. You can see the stone in the lintels over the doors and windows, the villages' shrines, churches, castles, coats of arms and walls. It is an ancestral legacy which forms part of the area's architectural heritage.

The most representative landscape in Los Pedroches is, without a shadow of a doubt, its pastureland, where rotational farming methods mean that the land is used to grow cereals for a period, and then used for livestock grazing. This kind of relationship between crop and animal farming is only possible because a balance has been struck between conservation and exploitation.

Protected Natural Spaces

The eastern part of the Valle de Los Pedroches is home to the Sierras de Cardeña y Montoro Natural Park, declared a protected area in 1989. It covers 38,408 hectares of land in the municipalities of Cardeña (63.1%) and Montoro (36.9%). The decision was made to protect this area because of a number of factors: the survival of important ecosystems, the real possibility of achieving sustained economic development, and its potential as a location for recreational activities and environmental education.

It is said that almost half of the pigs, sheep and cows in the whole province of Cordoba are found in this Natural Park. Along the outskirts of the plains, where the landscape is more abrupt and the vegetation is thicker, there are some good hunting reserves, so you can often see groups of deer amongst the holm oak trees, something which is very unusual in other parts of the region.

One of the most outstanding parts of the Natural Park is the oak forest in Venta del Charco, the only place in the whole province where you can see Pyrenean oaks. With regard to wildlife, the area is home to one of the densest populations of Iberian lynx in the whole of Spain. The animal has become the symbol of this protected area, without detracting from other important species such as wildcats or otters. Wolves are also known to prowl around the region, and it is a nesting site for numerous birds of prey, including black, Griffin and Egyptian vultures, and golden, imperial, short-toed and booted eagles.

Geologically-speaking, the area lies on top of a granite batholith, streaked with numerous seams of quartz and porphyry, which are more resistant to erosion, giving rise to the region's rolling hills. The batholith has been joined by a number of metamorphic rocks' slate, quartzite and limestone.

In terms of hydrographic features, the area is divided between the basins of two rivers ''the Guadiana and the Guadalquivir'' which are separated by the line of hills crossing through the centre of the region from the northwest to the southeast. The main rivers in the area are the Zújar, Guadalmez and Yeguas.

The climate here is a sub-humid Mediterranean climate, although it also has some aspects of a continental climate, because it is kept isolated by the mountains of the Sierra Morena and the Baetic Cordillera. The temperatures are similar throughout the whole region, with an average of between 26 and 27 °C in summer and 7 and 8 °C in winter. The same cannot be said for rainfall, which can be anything between 500 and 900 mm/year.

The region's most important natural treasures are its farming and forestry pasture systems, some of the best of their type in Europe. The rest of its forests are very well conserved, and the remaining land is covered in areas used for cereal and livestock farming.

Hunting is another important part of the region's economy, especially in the most eastern areas. A lot of hunters come here to indulge in their hobby, and this could be very good for the area's commercial and tourism sectors.