About Las Lagunetas

Las Lagunetas is a valuable wooded mountain landscape that plays an important role in aquifer replenishment and soil conservation. It is home to many pine trees and monteverde vegetation, as well as a number of native plant species, such as Pericallis multiflora. Las Lagunetas covers the north-eastern foothills of the complex structure of the Pedro Gil Dorsal, the Cordillera Dorsal, which runs from the north-east to the south-west of this area of the island.

There are three environmentally sensitive areas in the surroundings, the Las Palomas Special Nature Reserve, the Pinoleris Integral Nature Reserve and the Santa Úrsula Nature Pine Forest.

Getting there

The Las Lagunetas Protected Landscape can be accessed from various points. From the town centre of La Esperanza, follow Calle Grano de Oro up towards the mountains from the town hall and past the Nuestra Señora de la Esperanza Church. At the roundabout at the end of the street, take the Madroño Goteras track. About 800 metres further on is the entrance to the Las Lagunetas Protected Landscape. From El Ravelo there is a paved road, Calle Lomo Piedras, which heads up to the mountains to Las Calderetas, a recreational area located in the Las Lagunetas Protected Landscape. Another paved road which runs through the interior of the Las Lagunetas Protected Landscape in the municipality of Santa Úrsula is the Pino Alto track, which starts at the TF-3114 road in Tamaide and finishes near the Leoncio Estévez Public School.

Also, from the municipalities of La Matanza, La Victoria and Santa Úrsula, there are various unsealed tracks leading up to the mountains and Las Lagunetas. However, these roads are for four-wheel drive access only and are suitable only in favourable weather conditions.

Total area

3,568.30

Municipalities

Tacoronte, El Sauzal, La Matanza, La Victoria, Santa Úrsula, La Orotava, El Rosario and Candelaria

Governing legislation

Las Lagunetas was declared a protected landscape by Regional Law 12/94, and was subsequently integrated into the Canary Island's Law on Territorial Regulation via Legislative Decree 1/2000.

The Santa Úrsula Natural Pine Forest was declared an environmentally sensitive area by the Special Plan for the Las Lagunetas Protected Landscape, approved definitively by the Canary Islands Commission for Land and the Environment in the session of 2nd of October 2009 (Canarian Official Gazette No. 51 of 15th March, 2010).