PR LP 17. Camino de La Faya
El Pilar Recreation Area – La Bajita
The heather-fayal is one of the most characteristic shrub formations of La Palma. The two species that characterize it need a certain amount of environmental humidity to live, which they find in the mountains of Villa de Mazo due to the direct influence of the trade winds. The proposed route begins just above that area of contact with the clouds, which it crosses to reach the coast itself. In between, it flirts with the inhabited midlands of the municipality (the neighborhoods of El Poleal and Lodero). The pines that surround us are of considerable size. The reason is that the so-called Pinar de Pajonales is above the sea level of clouds, and therefore the optimal environment for the heather-fayal. However, its presence begins to become noticeable next to an abandoned refuge, in the form of spectacular heather tunnels crossed by the path.
PR LP 17 has two sections shared with its neighbor, PR LP 16. The first of these is right at the beginning of the route, in the link between the recreation areas of the El Pilar Refuge and the Hoya del Rehielo (closed to the public). During these first kilometers, contradicting the name of the path, we observe that
After a forest track (SL VM 124), the vegetation begins to open up little by little, until shortly after the neighboring viewpoint we begin to find the first signs of human activity. Grasslands, abandoned crops and livestock plots accompany us to the El Poleal neighborhood. After the El Molino crossing, already below the main road, we link up with the final section, again shared with the PR LP 16.
Fayas and heathers share, in addition to their preference for very particular climatic conditions, a surprising capacity for recovery. In fact, in the areas devastated by fires, their shoots are often the first to appear after the catastrophe. That is why it is difficult to imagine this area completely deforested. And yet it was like that until only a few decades ago. At that time, the heather-fayal was cut down completely, to take advantage of it in the manufacture of charcoal or to obtain wooden rods that could be used in tomato crops.
