Arribes del Duero: A Canyon That Is Also a Border
Castilla y León, Spain
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Arribes del Duero
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300
XP
+100 Spain
= 400 total
1 day
Arribes del Duero: A Canyon That Is Also a Border
300 + 100 XP
The Duero cuts a gorge hundreds of metres deep along the Portuguese border, and both countries made a park of it — Portugal in 1998, Castilla y León on 11 April 2002 — with UNESCO declaring the pair a transboundary biosphere reserve on 9 June 2015 under the name Meseta Ibérica. The gorge is so deep that the temperature at the bottom is moderated enough to grow almonds, olives and oranges on terraces in the middle of the Castilian meseta. Spain and Portugal agreed in 1927 to share the river's power, which is why the Saltos del Duero dams are strung along it.
Required Activities
1
of 5
Get to a mirador on the rim and look down hundreds of metres at the river and Portugal beyond it
2
of 5
Work out the microclimate: deep enough that almonds, olives and oranges grow on the terraces
3
of 5
Take a boat down the gorge between the two countries
4
of 5
Look for griffon vulture, Egyptian vulture and black stork on the cliffs, which is what the ZEPA is for
5
of 5
Find out what the 1927 agreement between Spain and Portugal was and what it built along this river
Get to a mirador on the rim and look down hundreds of metres at the river and Portugal beyond it
Work out the microclimate: deep enough that almonds, olives and oranges grow on the terraces
Take a boat down the gorge between the two countries
Look for griffon vulture, Egyptian vulture and black stork on the cliffs, which is what the ZEPA is for
Find out what the 1927 agreement between Spain and Portugal was and what it built along this river
Before you go
Miradors on the rim are unfenced with enormous drops. Roads in the arribes are narrow and slow with few services.
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About Castilla y León
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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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