Tajo Internacional: The Border Is the River
Extremadura, Spain
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Tajo Internacional
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300
XP
+100 Spain
= 400 total
1 day
Tajo Internacional: The Border Is the River
300 + 100 XP
The Tagus runs along the Spanish-Portuguese border here, and the same country continues on both sides of it — so both countries made a park and in 2016 UNESCO made the whole thing one transboundary biosphere reserve. The Spanish parque natural del Tajo Internacional covers 25,088 hectares, the Portuguese parque natural do Tejo Internacional 26,484. Six hundred and ten plant taxa in ninety-two families have been recorded, fifty-one of them endemic to the Iberian peninsula. It is one of the emptiest and least visited corners of Spain.
Required Activities
1
of 5
Stand on the Spanish bank and work out that the ecosystem does not notice the border, which is precisely why the reserve is transboundary
2
of 5
Take the Barco Balcón del Tajo, which has run river routes through the park since 2011, and see the gorges from the water
3
of 5
Look for griffon and black vulture, Egyptian vulture, golden eagle, Bonelli's eagle and short-toed eagle on the cliffs above the water
4
of 5
Work out the numbers: 25,088 hectares Spanish, 26,484 Portuguese, one UNESCO biosphere reserve since 2016
5
of 5
Find out how many of the 610 recorded plant taxa here are endemic to the Iberian peninsula and nowhere else
Stand on the Spanish bank and work out that the ecosystem does not notice the border, which is precisely why the reserve is transboundary
Take the Barco Balcón del Tajo, which has run river routes through the park since 2011, and see the gorges from the water
Look for griffon and black vulture, Egyptian vulture, golden eagle, Bonelli's eagle and short-toed eagle on the cliffs above the water
Work out the numbers: 25,088 hectares Spanish, 26,484 Portuguese, one UNESCO biosphere reserve since 2016
Find out how many of the 610 recorded plant taxa here are endemic to the Iberian peninsula and nowhere else
Before you go
Very few services over a large area and mobile coverage is patchy — carry water and fuel. Summer heat is extreme.
Finding nearby campsites...
About Extremadura
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
300 XP
Spain country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
400 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in Spain.
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