EZCARAY TOWN COUNCIL
Oja Valley
Alto Oja is a natural, tourist region with great environmental and land attractions. Located in the most north-westerly part of the Iberian Cordillera, it corresponds to an ancient Palaeozoic massif known as Sierra de la Demanda, whose name comes from a lawsuit for the use of its pastures between two towns in Alto Oja. Located to the south-east of the Autonomic Community of La Rioja, it is made up of the municipalities Ezcaray, Ojacastro, Santurde, Santurdejo, Pazuengos, Valgañón and Zorraquín. This trip along the river Oja - also known as Glera or Hilera by the inhabitants - along its waters from its source in the lap of the Pico Gatón, to Santurde and Santurdejo, where it opens onto the agricultural plain that it stays with until it flows into the river Tirón at Cihuri. Together, surrounded by vineyards, their waters flow into the Ebro in Haro on their way to the sea. This easily accessed mountain stop is dominated by a 2000-metre mountain, snow-capped in winter with new peaks that reach higher than 2000 metres, crowned by the mountain San Lorenzo at 2,262 metres.
Its sea influenced climate, due to its proximity to the Atlantic from the Demanda, favours lesser and greater extreme temperatures throughout the year. The snow holding up to spring precludes the Atlantic fronts and makes summer temperatures milder..
The area of Bonicaparra
The climatic influence favours the appearance o fan Atlantic landscape, which makes way for the presence of beech forests on the shadiest mountainsides and robledales on the sunniest sides. The mixed forest – beech, ash, cherry tree, linden, maple, rowan, mountain olmos, oaks, etc – is a great autumn attraction with its mixture of green colours, ochres, yellows and reds.
From Posadas (one of the hamlets belonging to the municipality of Ezcaray), we see the first towns on both sides of the river Oja. The hamlets, surrounded by meadows for cattle grazing, separated by live hedges of varying species, such as ash, hazel, hawthorn, etc. these hamlets, some abandoned, sit in the perpendicular valleys, forming one of the most popular architectural sites in La Rioja.
Llano de la Casa Valley
In these mountains one finds extensive fauna. Large mammals such as deer, roe, wild boar and wolves can be spotted on some of the walks carried out from the neighbouring Castilian lands. Other smaller animals are also often seen such as the otter, forest bats, squirrels, foxes, badgers, genets, the mountain cat or the Iberian desman in danger of extinction.
Sierra de la Demanda is a good reserve for bird fauna, sheltering protected species such as the short-toed eagle, partridge, honey buzzard, hen harrier, booted eagle, golden eagle and the eagle owl, among others. Moreover, if we ascend to the glens and highest peaks in autumn we can see the passing of migratory birds in large flocks such as the crane, graylag goose, osprey or the honey buzzard.
All these natural resources Hill give Light in the next few years to Demanda Nature Reserve, which is already at an advanced stage.
