Natural Parks

Picture yourself on an island of olive trees, surrounded by a sea of aromatic plants.

Spanish olive oil – Masía el Altet

La Sierra de Mariola Natural Park

The Masía el Altet estate is located in a narrow valley, surrounded by mountains with vegetation of pine, holme oak, kermes oak, savin, juniper, ash, maple, gall oak, etc. Half of the olive estate lies within the Font Roja Natural Park and the other half in the Sierra De Mariola Natural Park; it is an extraordinarily beautiful spot, as expressed in the writings of the illustrious botanist and historian Don Antonio Cavanilles in his 1797 book Observaciones sobre la historia natural, geográfica y agrícola sobre el Reino de Valencia.

The Sierra de Mariola natural park is, in the opinion of many well-known botanists, the mountain area with the most aromatic and medicinal plants in the world.

More than 1200 species of higher plants have been catalogued, including many plants endemic to Eastern Spain and the Alicante area.

These aromatic and medicinal plants include: southern wormwood, satureja, arnica, heather, juniper, hawthorn, lavender, rockrose, mint, fennel, St John’s wort, camomile, melissa, oregano, nettle, calamintha, chenille, rosemary, sage, cistus, thyme, summer savory, stonecrop, blackberry, wall germander, false yellowhead, nailwort, pebrella, white dittany and many, many more.

The particular personality of the Masía el Altet Extra Virgin Olive Oil is largely determined by the fact that so many of these aromatic and medicinal plants grow in and around the olive groves, giving the fruit its special, unique organoleptic properties.

The best spanish olive oil Masía el Altet

The Carrascal de la Font Roja Natural Park

The Carrascal de la Font Roja Natural Park is one of the best examples of a mixed Mediterranean forest in the world.

It was declared a Natural Park in 1987. It is a Protected Birdlife Reserve (ZEPA) and a Site of Community Importance (SCI). Furthermore it has four plant micro-reserves.

The deciduous forest is located in the colder and wetter areas of the park (the north side) and the areas above 1,250 metres, where species such as the Portuguese oak, the ash, the maple, the yew and the whitebeam grow. This area of the park is highly valuable given the fact that it is very rare to find this type of forest in the Valencian Community.

A Kermes oak forest covers a very large part of the park, in which there are a few typical isolated examples of the deciduous forest together with undergrowth made up of ivy, honeysuckle, madder and viburnum tinus in the wetter areas, and sage, thymus piperella or thyme in the drier areas. And it is among these Kermes oaks and plants that very high quality olives are picked to produce one of the most award-winning olive oils in the world, the best Spanish olive oil.

The diversity of the forest, which is kept in perfect condition, together with the existence of different landscape units, favours the varied and rich wildlife that inhabits the park, such as the robin, the common firecrest, the finch, the coal tit, etc. and mammals like the wild boar, the wildcat, the common genet and the weasel.
The Natural Park is one of the last nesting strongholds of bird species such as the peregrine falcon, the eagle owl or the griffon vulture.

In a nutshell, this is a privileged setting which confers a special flavour to Masía el Altet’s extra virgin olive oil. On this estate are born Masía el Altet High End, Masía el Altet Special Selection, Masía el Altet Premium and Masía el Altet High Quality to delight the most discerning palates.

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