귀족‬에서 가장 멋진 ‪5‬개의 천연기념물

The Fuente de la Pajarita in Colmenar de Oreja is a historic fountain located on the old road to Aranjuez. This fountain has a spout that pours water into a box used as a watering trough for livestock. Although its flow is low, its waters are known for being very salty and, in the past, were used for medicinal purposes as a purgative.

The route passes by the Esteras lagoon and ends at the curious ponds of Charcón Grande and Charca Rosa. In some sources, the two ponds appear together under the name Charca Rosa. In any case, they are a unique feature of saline wetlands because sometimes the water appears with a marked pink color. Scientists are investigating the origin of the hue and claim that it may be due to the effect of a microorganism from the saline nature of the water or a halobacteria.

In spring and during the rainy season, the blue surface of the Esteras lagoon is an environmental jewel in the arid landscape of the rural moorland. The volume of water depends on rainfall and evaporation. During long periods of high temperatures, the water disappears and becomes a white salt lake with a noticeable crust of mineral salts. In this case, it is advisable not to enter the lake to closely observe the sodium sulphate crystals because it is a mud trap, the wetland is always under the salt.

The medicinal waters from the Villacabras spring were marketed until the middle of the last century. Between 1880 and 1920, they were bottled in glass containers for the markets of Madrid and from there they were sent to various countries in Europe, especially France, which was the main consumer. The spring still has the basin, with a small wash basin, and an ingenious system for channelling the water to the different deposits and uses within the Pata ravine.

It is a group of several springs at the head of the Valdepinar stream. The main fountain is dated 1871, according to an inscription carved in the stone, it has a circular basin and four spouts that drain into the cattle trough and a washhouse traditionally used to wash new wool.

Brackish water spring on the old cobbled road of Aranjuez. It has a low-flow spout used in other times for its medicinal properties and a large pond used mainly as a watering trough for cattle and horses.

a medium difficulty route

The route enters the Cañada del Raso through the access to a gypsum factory, leaves the facilities on the right and passes through the Laguna Seca or Las Esteras wetland, a valuable lake ecosystem in a natural depression in the land that floods temporarily, creating a hypersaline wetland of great geological, botanical and faunal importance of high environmental value, a small wonder in the páramo landscape.