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Already one of the European countries with the most UNESCO (United Nations Education, Culture and Science Organisation) sites, the new entry approved in the international body's headquarters in Paris this week is an entire district, or mini-county, covering 16 towns and villages.
The Las Loras district is mostly in the province of Burgos, encompassing 11 towns, with the remainder being in the neighbouring province of Palencia, both in the centre-northern region of Castilla y León.
Burgos is already popular with tourists because of its picturesque provincial capital city of the same name, home to Spain's second-largest and arguably most spectacular cathedral, and also because of its being right in the heart of the Ribera del Duero wine district.
Now, it has another reason for visitors to flock to it.
Las Loras' unusual panorama is made up of chalky rock plains which appear to have been whipped about by the wind and resemble 'spectacular river canyons', according to the application to UNESCO.
They are thought to have been formed on the sea floor around 200 million years ago, between the Jurassic and Cretacic eras, and engulf a network of caves, spires and rock formations that look like ruins of buildings, interspersed by waterfalls.
UNESCO also praised the 'excellent conservation' of the towns and villages within Las Loras – municipalities that house Romanesque churches, hermitage chapels with cave art, and houses built in a very local and typical architectural style.
After 10 years of bidding for the UNESCO tag, this was finally approved by the board in Paris and announced during an international heritage conference in Torquay, Devon (UK), along with seven other sites worldwide.
This means Las Loras joins the Comarca Minera ('mining district') and Mixteca Alta, both in México; Arxan and Keketouhai, both in China; Cheongsong in South Korea; the Isle of Oeshm, in Iran, and the Causses du Ouercy in France.
In total, UNESCO now has 127 geo-parks on its register, scattered across 35 countries.
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