Fourth year students from Mojácar’s Rey Alabez Secondary School recently enjoyed the international Día Europeo de la Red Natura 2000 (which celebrates the preservation of cultural and natural heritage) with an excursion along the coastal Mena-Macenas path.
The youngsters and their tutors were taken by bus to the starting point on the beach by the Hotel Indalo, where they began the trail
with guides giving explanations along the way about their Sierra Cabrera surroundings and, the areas that are part of the Red Natura Network of protected zones.
The Mena-Macenas trail is one of Mojácar’s six trails, which all have some historical, cultural and scenic interest. It runs along a stretch of the old Mojácar to Carboneras road between through the cliffs that form the Sierra Cabrera as they drop down to the Mediterranean Sea.
A stop was made at the Castillo de Macenas, which was built in the second half of the 18th century as a defence from pirate attacks and, has been declared an Asset of Cultural Interest. They were able to look around inside and explore the areas where the artillery battery was located, which could be used to defend from attacks from any direction.
Along the path there are also more than 10,000 specimens of native vegetation, with the particularly important limonium estevei, which is endemic to the area. Afterwards, the students, with their teachers and guides made time to discuss all the things they had learned about and discovered on the route.
Prior to the visit, the youngsters had had some preparation for their day out, as this in an on-going project, with the creation of teams to create short films about their findings on the day, which will be later posted on the Life Conhabit Andalucía website.
