The square of Gabriel Miró is a square located in the city of Alicante (Spain). It is also popularly known as Plaza de Correos, in memory of the main offices of the Correos y Telégrafos State Society that were located in the plaza. Known since ancient times as Plaza de las Barcas, because boats could reach it. Later it was named Plaza de Isabel II and finally baptized with its current name, in memory of the writer Gabriel Miró, illustrious son of the city. It has a round shape and its elements include several hundred-year-old Ficus, the monument to Gabriel Miró or the fountain of the Aguadora, designed by Vicente Bañuls from Alicante in 1918.

The village also has a green lung which is none other than the Municipal Park "The Canyar de les Portelles". Located opposite the House of Culture is the most important natural space within the municipality. In it you can enjoy a harmonious and relaxed environment from which to stroll and enjoy the many outdoor events are organized therein.

To live surrounded by palm trees is not, in Elche, an impossible dream. From the day of their birth in the hospital to their final farewell in the monumental Old Cemetery, full of flowers, the Ilicitanos (people of Elche) work, study, practice sport, dream, sleep, fall in love, stroll, have fun, enjoy art, in short, live life to the full, surrounded by the swaying branches of palm trees. The city may not be understood, nor its citizens understand themselves, without taking into consideration the historic Palm Grove, which has provided a unique urban landscape for more than a thousand years, and which was declared a World Heritage site in the year 2000. More than 200,000 palm trees With more than 200,000 palm trees, 50,000 of them in the town´s nurseries ready to be transplanted, the Palm Grove of Elche is the largest in Europe. Although, when viewed from a distance, it may appear to be a great forest, it is, in reality, a plantation with an agriculture purpose. Hence the plots of palm trees or their groupings are called “huertos” or orchards. Each of the plots is flanked by rows of palm trees, in such a way that, as seen from the air, they form a grid pattern. The terraces created within the plots have traditionally been dedicated to agricultural production. Although the existence of palm trees throughout the south of Europe since before the presence of mankind has been proven, the decline in temperatures and the Ice Ages put an end to the majority of them, with the exception of some warmer areas which were protected from the cold, such as Elche. The profusion of drawings of palms and palm trees on the Iberian ceramics of La Alcudia (third to first century B.C.) demonstrates the existing importance of date palms at that time. Arabic Origins The expansion of palm grove took place after the foundation by the Arabs of the new city on its current site (eighth and ninth centuries), with the construction of an extensive network of irrigation channels, mostly still in existence today. The survival of this system of agricultural oasis over many centuries was one of the aspects which was taken into account for the Unesco declaration. Currently, the Palm Grove´s role is more as a landscape and a cultural asset than as an agricultural site. The latter function focuses on the production of white palms for Palm Sunday, which are sold throughout Spain and even abroad, and on small harvests of dates for the local market. They have also begun to produce varieties of palm tree for sale which have been developed in laboratories.

The Municipal Natural Park of El Molino del Agua, with more than 17 hectares, is another of the protected natural areas of the city, with a marked singularity. In it is located the southernmost dune system of the Valencian Community, with abundant fossil dunes, and a subsoil full of underground galleries that, until not long ago, were established as an important aquifer for the hamlet of La Mata. A natural space in front of the sea, which allows you to enjoy quiet and fascinating walks between pine forests and dunes.

This beautiful and wide square was the place where the Hercules played its games until the 70s. Now, very renovated and with great gastronomic offer, surrounded by quality shops, it is very well cared for and has a very particular fountain very dear to his neighbors.

Very close to the town and in the Sierra de Albatera is the wonderful place VIRGEN DEL ROSARIO MOUNTAIN PARK, fully equipped for leisure and enjoy nature in all its splendor. Its privileged location makes it an exceptional viewpoint of the entire Vega Baja, in which to perform many activities in full contact with nature. Among its facilities are: Three booths of 6 seats each, a cabin of 9 seats, one of camping of 25 plots, a classroom of nature, reservoir, hearth camping area, information panels, toilets and showers, playground, waterfalls - streams - bridge, watchtower, climbing wall, hermitage, barbecue, path, etc ... You can also enjoy a bike ride, hiking ... or adventure in activities such as climbing, paragliding, rappel, etc ...

The Plano, located in the municipality of Sax, north of the town, has critical conditions of aridity and salinity that make it a unique place for its ecological features. Almost all of its surface is occupied by Aleppo pine, which thanks to its great strength and adaptability manages to survive with difficulty in this environment, originating a curious phenomenon. The trees were planted in the 50s of the twentieth century, so many of them have an approximate age of more than half a century. However, its appearance corresponds to trees of much younger age, due to the adverse weather conditions, which have caused a very slow growth. In some areas, the conditions are so extreme that pine trees can not even develop, as in the case of La Hoya or albardinar, where the only species capable of thriving is the albardín, which is very resistant to the aridity and salinity of soils. In other cases, the presence of limestone hills and soils rich in gypsum determine the appearance of plant species adapted to these environments, such as black hawthorn or soapwort grass. This diversity makes El Plano a unique place, where the fauna finds shelter, food and water, since an artificial pond has been created as an aid. We can see here mammals like the rabbit, squirrels, urchins or foxes, some reptiles like the ocellated lizard and birds like the goldfinch, the greenfinch, the wood pigeon, thrushes, kestrels, etc. All this natural wealth, together with the "flat" relief, invites you to visit and discover this beautiful Natural Area. Infrastructures The Plano has a wide range of recreational equipment: - Recreational area with tables, fountains, barbecues, woodcutters, sinks ... - Kiosk -bar. Open weekends and holidays. - Toilets with showers, including toilet for the disabled. - Childish games. - Regulated camping area. - Parking lots. With places for the disabled There is a circular route, of low difficulty, that runs through it. It is perfectly signposted and is equipped with didactic panels to help better understand this particular ecosystem. This Natural Area and its equipment is mainly dedicated to recreational use, with the facilities being open: toilets, barbecues, kiosk-bar on weekends and holidays, although the tables in the recreational area can be used freely all year round. Schedule - Winter: from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. - Summer: from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Barbecue service The barbecues open at the same time as the area, although its opening depends on the existing level of forest fire risk, which is decreed by the Generalitat Valenciana. If this is extreme (level 3) or extraordinary, it can not be opened, and it can even be closed without prior notice if it is decreed. To know the level of emergency, you can consult the website www.112cv.gva.es/incendios-forestales. Camping The camping area is available every weekend of the year and every day in summer, from June 15 to September 15, previous online booking on this page (by clicking on the reservation banner). Game of the jets. In operation the summer months with the following schedule:                                           - From Monday to Friday: afternoons from 4:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.                                                  - Saturdays and Sundays: Mornings from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.                                                                                         Afternoons from 4:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.                                               The game makes a technical stop 10 minutes every hour. The company Alicante Natura also develops an environmental education program in this space, intended for schools, being completely free.

It is a wetland of artificial origin was made in 1980 on the channel of the Alcorisa ravine, a wide erosive depression surrounded by low mountains, "Cabezo del Moro", "Cabezo de la Pedrera", "Loma larga" and "Lo Rufete" ", And with a substrate composed of gray and blue Miocene marls of high power that endow these lands with great impermeability. Inside this depression we find some marginal reliefs formed by margo-limestones and sandstones that provide gentle slopes towards the outside and stronger towards the interior. It can store 246.9 hm3 of water along the 1,272 ha that it occupies. This reservoir belongs to the Confederación Hidrográfica del Segura and is a key piece for the regulation and distribution of part of the waters coming from the Tajo Segura Transfer Channel. This flow is used for irrigation in irrigated crops of the Campo de Cartagena (Murcia) and for urban supply of a series of population centers of its territorial environment, managed through the Mancomunidad de los Canales del Taibilla. The potential vegetation in the peripheral zones to the lagoon are the maquis or shrubs formed by palm heart Chamaerops humilis, esparto Stipa tenacissima, black hawthorn Rhamnus lycioides or Pistada lentiscus mastic. In contrast, in recently altered areas we found large extensions of thyme Thymus hyemalis, Artemisia Artemisia herba-alba, Salso / a genistoideso bufalaga Timelaea hirsuta. Between both formations we can find small stands of Pinus halepensis pines and abandoned crops of Ceratonia siliqua carob and Olea europaea olive trees. It also inhabits the so-called crazy marshmallow Lavatera triloba, a plant of the Malvaceae family present in the Valencian Catalog of Endangered Flora Species and which appears as "Protected Non-Cataloged Species". The existing fauna presents a great diversity of habitats together with the influence of some nearby natural sites with high ecological value such as the SPA of Sierra Escalona and the Dehesa de Campoamor and the Salinas de La Mata and Torrevieja Natural Park. observe numerous species of birds associated with different types of habitats. Hundreds of herons nest in a large breeding colony that can hold more than 150 pairs of species such as the cattle egret Bubulcus ibis, the heron Ardea cinerea, the martinete Nycticorax nycticorax, the bittern / xobrichus minutus, the scythed heron Ardeola ralloides and the purple heron Ardea purpurea. The last two species are listed as "Vulnerable" according to the Valencian Catalog of Endangered Species of Fauna. Photograph of the La Pedrera reservoir Another well-represented group are the larolimícolas. Birds such as the little tern Sternula albifrons, the common tern Sterna hirundo or the black-billed snapper Gelochelidon nilotica form breeding colonies in those islets formed by the decrease in water level during the summer months. On the nude beaches that border part of the reservoir we find species of waders of high ecological value such as the stilt Himantopus himantopus, with more than 50 pairs registered in the reservoir, the small plover Charadríus dubius, which has one of the best southern populations in the reservoir of Alicante or the patinated plover Charadrius alexandrinus, a species in serious decline classified as vulnerable according to the Valencian Catalog of Endangered Species. For all the above mentioned together with other species of flora and fauna that we can find there, this reservoir is in the process of being cataloged as a Wet Zone of the Valencian Community.

Recreational area in the Sierra de Bernía.