Valdelosa Cork oak Trees

This old cork oak can be found in the north of the capital city, around Valdelosa village. The cereal fields are mixed with a forest full of Pyrenean oaks, holm oaks and Gall oaks. And among all of them we can see the naked red cork oak trunks.

It covers a surface of 6.000 hectares, which makes it become the widest forest in Castile and Leon. Apart from its environmental value, the cork oak forest provides economical benefit, as almost 300.000 kilograms of cork is obtained from it.

This traditional task is called “saca” and it is the perfect pattern of sustainable development of natural resources by the human being. The cork oak forest is divided into ten stages which allow, by means of a rotation system, the continuous exploitation of cork to take place every year.

At daybreak in the month of July, the “sacadores” (workers crew) go in couples, guided by their “manejero”, The task is simple, but it requires skill and accuracy in order not to hurt the trees. The “recogedores” will take off the cork piled up under the trunk and then will carry it somewhere to be transformed and classified.