Forests of Fog

The most important of the vegetation of Jandía is found on the very summit. Canary peralillos, adernos, mocanes and other trees typical of the Canarian monteverde, rocks and branches densely covered with moss oozing with water and ferns on the damp walls. Who expects this in arid Fuerteventura? There are even brambles, to which the highest peak in the area owes its name.
This is possible because in the height of summer, when the heat hits the coast and the inland plains, the mist that envelops the peaks of Jandía creates a humid and cool environment that allows the survival of a type of vegetation similar to the laurel forest of the western Canary Islands and Madeira. Remains of ancient plant and animal communities, descendants of those that inhabited the Mediterranean basin in the Miocene, millions of years ago. They are unique in the eastern Canary Islands, where they have only survived to this day in Jandía. Of course, here they have only lasted on gloomy and inaccessible rock walls facing north, where they are safe from animals introduced by humans.
The few remains that remain are not spectacular due to their extension and notoriety in the landscape; Most of the people who climb the peak of La Zarza don’t even see them, because to do so they have to look dangerously over the cliff and even then they are frequently blurred by the fog.