Bardenas Reales

Sunday 18 February 2024

Bardenas Reales - a landscape sculpted by time, weather and water, this semi-desert area is about 70km south of the Pyrenees in the Navarra region of Spain.

The ground is made of clay, chalk, and sandstone which has been eroded by water over millions of years, leaving plateaus, hills, valleys and multi coloured rocky outcrops. It is full of peculiar geological formations - a photographers dream.

For the best part of 8 hours we drove around on the dusty unmade roads on a beautifully sunny Sunday, exploring the 3 different areas of the park. And for most of the time we were all alone seeing very few other vehicles.

To the south east is the Plana de la Negra - least visited and seemingly least loved, even the Information Office weren’t selling it to us as he circled on the map which areas we really SHOULD head for. However we found it fascinating as it provided us with some amazing views from a high windy plateau and some unique experiences. We saw golden eagles, pin-tailed sandgrouse (plus plenty of other birds we couldn’t identify) and some beautiful flowers and butterflies. The rocks are a darker red colour in this area and many have pine and oak trees growing on them making them appear black from afar, hence the name.

In the northern area are El Plano (only accessible on foot or by bike) and La Blanca Alta which we drove a few miles through until the track became very rutted and almost impassable. 

But it’s the central area, La Bardena Blanca, which is the one the tourists flock to, even more so since it featured in Game of Thrones (filming location of Dothraki Sea in Season 6 - means nothing to me but might to you if you’re a fan). Scenes from James Bond’s 1999 The World is Not Enough, which I’m much more familiar with than GOT, were also filmed here.

Of the 42,000 hectares most visitors sadly only see a fraction of the Natural Park which is the area with the extraordinary rock formations. One of the information boards has Before/Now/Future illustrations showing how the weather causes the sedimentary and clay layers to erode at different rates.

It’s an extremely fragile ecosystem with UNESCO Biosphere Reserve status. The are a few simple common-sense rules for visiting the park. These are listed on their website, in the Information Centre, on the free map handed out and on subtle signage dotted around the park. 

It’s a real shame then that a few people feel the rules don’t apply to them. Like the woman who climbed half way up the Castildetierra so her friends could photograph her, the man flying his drone around it, the couple who parked up & slept overnight in their car and the group who left banana and orange peel at the base of the rocky formation (which Google tells me will take up to 2 years to decompose). Just why? They are accelerating the erosion, polluting the environment and spoiling the experience for everyone else. Rant over - here’s some more photographs to enjoy.

Castildetierra

June and September are said to be the two months to see the park at its best. The evidence of last week’s rain could still be seen on some of the muddy tracks we drove along, leaving our van in a sorry state, but the recent sunny spell meant our trip in mid February was just perfect. 

Looking across to the plateau at sunrise