Tenerife

The special nature reserve of the Badlands of Güimar is near the exit of the TF-1 motorway that goes towards the district of the same name, in the southeast of the island. This unusual natural area contains the volcanic cone of Montaña Grande: it is an ancient volcano with a 300-metre diameter crater whose interior was used for growing crops. There is also a large lava flow that runs down to the sea.

This unusual scenery, so representative of Tenerife's volcanic origins, also preserves one of the best examples of a cardonal-tabaibal.  This typical shrub land formation is a combination of the Canary Island spurge (Euphorbia canariensis), known as "cardonales" and the tabaiba spurge (Euphorbia regis-jubae), called "tabaibales: they grow mainly in the sunny coastal areas of the south of the island.