Fundación para la Conservación del Quebrantahuesos

The Bearded Vulture Conservation Foundation works to conserve and reintroduce the bearded vulture in the Iberian Peninsula. We currently work in the Pyrenees, Picos de Europa, Gredos, and Teruel mountain ranges.

It is exciting work raising awareness in the Picos de Europa area through guided tours in which you can experience the complex nature of our work first-hand and learn the motivation behind and objectives of reintroducing bearded vultures as well as what field techniques we employ.

We run tours every Friday from July to September. They are geared toward the general public, so there is no need for any previous knowledge. Accompanied by one of our experts, you can experience a day in the country and visit the Mirador de la Reina supplementary feeding centre, where you can learn how to differentiate between the birds and identify them, as well as see the GPS tracking techniques we use and, above all, the problems we encounter on a daily basis.

The Foundation also has the “Las Montañas del Quebrantahuesos” (Bearded Vulture Mountains) Biodiversity and Sustainable Development Centre, which offers visitors a place to meet, participate and raise awareness.

Equipment

We rent out the museum equipment in the Bearded Vulture Mountains Centre for ecotourism, including:

Binoculars
Guides
GPS
Tracking equipment

Activity area

In the Picos de Europa National Park, specifically in the area around the Lakes of Covadonga.

Accesibility

We do not have any services specifically designed for people with limited mobility.

Price

Entry fee: €3/person with discounts for children and large families.
Ecotourism Project: €23/person including transport

Languages

English

Quality and/or sustainability practices & awards

Company certified by the Ecotourism Club in Spain

Company’s commitment to conservation of biodiversity and local development

The Bearded Vulture Conservation Foundation (FCQ) works to promote extensive and sustainable livestock farming activities that are linked to biodiversity conservation. For this reason, we created and registered the “Pro-Biodiversity” Guarantee Mark in 2011 in order to:

Achieve a more beneficial and profitable marketing model for sheep and goat farmers who operate using extensive traditional systems to offer them fair prices in line with the quality of their animals and unique nature of their work processes, which are closely linked to the conservation of biodiversity in mountain areas.
Create alliances between different players in the rural world – livestock farmers, distributors, abattoirs and an organisation that works to conserve biodiversity – to market sheep meat protected under the Pro-Biodiversity Mark and distribute it in the local area as well as to the restaurants of the Parador Hotels in Asturias and Cantabria.
The Pro-Biodiversity Guarantee Mark won the Natura 2000 award in 2020 in the “Socio-economic benefits” division.