At the present day less than 5% of Spain is under forest. Of this over one-third is pinewood. Deciduous forests are practically confined to the humid north, where Central European formations of oak, beech, chestnut, birch, ash and lime, with meadows and heath-moors, are dominant. In arid Spain the vegetation, emi nently xerophytic, is mainly evergreen. Conifers, such as the Spanish pine (Pinus halepensis), the pinaster (P. pinaster), the Corsican pine (P. larico), the stone-pine (P. pinea) and the Pinsapo fir (Abies pinsapo) and junipers, typically Juniperus thurifera, are common, especially on the upper slopes of the main ranges, but by far the most typical trees of dry Spain are the two species of oak, Quercus ilex, the evergreen or holm-oak, and Quercus suber, the cork oak. Quercus ilex is the most widespread tree in Spain. Deciduous species are not entirely absent from arid Spain, but they are, however, very largely confined to the vegas, with their black poplar groves, and the higher, more humid valleys of the northern ranges bordering and crossing the central Mesetas. Here beech, birch and lime occur, but even many of these show drought-resisting features. Sweet chestnut woods are characteristic of siliceous mountain soils in the south. In central Spain, woodland formations are practically confined to the moun tain slopes, and the predominating vegetation over the Mesetas is a scrub of evergreen bushes and large herbaceous plants of the Cistaceae and Labiatae families. Areas dominated by Cistus scrub are known to the Spaniards as jarales, and are particularly exten sive over the Middle Tagus and Guadiana basins and on the slopes of the Sierra Morena, where the ladanum bush (Cistus ladani ferus) is particularly abundant. Areas, on the other hand, which are characterized by the aromatic Labiatae, such plants as thyme, lavender, sage and rosemary, are known as tomillares (from tomillo, thyme) and occur chiefly in the La Mancha (q.v.) region.
Leguminosae, particularly Spanish broom (Spartium junceum) and furze are also common in the interior.
In the past a far greater proportion of Spain was forested than is so at the present day. The pinewoods of the Iberic and Car petanian ranges, the important cork oak-woods of the south and of Catalonia, and the many scattered stretches of evergreen oak are clearly relics of far greater forests, which have been destroyed by ruthless clearing and exploitation by man. As a result, in many of the uncultivated stretches of arid Spain there now exist forma tions which can only be regarded as degenerate forms of vegeta tion, due to the destruction of the original forests. Large areas in Murcia, in parts of La Mancha and on the plateaux of Guadix and Huescar in Granada, are covered with esparto grass (q.v.).
In the south-east of the peninsula the extreme aridity of much of the area, combined with the high temperatures, has given rise to semi-desert conditions, with a distinctly African type of vege tation. The dwarf palm (Chamerops Humilis) grows in this region, but is nowhere a very important feature of the vegeta tion.
The eastern districts, from Catalonia southward to Cape Nao, have a distinctly Mediterranean type of vegetation, evergreen shrubs, including many aromatics, of the class known to the French as maquis and described by the Spaniards as monte bajo to distinguish it from monte alto—the forest.
Cut off from Europe by the Pyrenees and in recent geological touch with Africa, Spain has European fauna of special types, with marked African affinities in the South and many local varieties.
Of mammals which come under this head the most impor tant are the common genet (Genetta genetta), which extends into south-west France, and a species of ichneumon (Herpestes wid dringtonii), which is restricted to the peninsula. Both the above constitute the only European representatives of the tropical Old World family of Viverridae or civets. The Barbary ape (Macacus sylvanus), which inhabits the peninsula of Gibraltar and is the only species existing in a wild state in Europe, is generally believed to have been introduced from Africa at a very early date. Of the mammals peculiar to the peninsula, but showing greater affinities with the fauna of Northern and Central Europe, the most typical are the Spanish lynx (Lynx pardellus), a purely Iberian species; the Andalusian wild cat (Fells sylvestris tartes sia); the Spanish wolf (Canis lupus signatus), peculiar to cen tral Spain ; the Spanish fox (Vulpes vulpes silaceus); the Iberian weasel (Mustela iberica), the Spanish red deer (Cervus elaphus), the Iberian hare (Lepus granatensis), the large Guadarrama squir rel (Sciurus vulgaris infuscatus), several voles and various smaller forms, such as the Andalusian dormouse.
The birds of Spain are very numerous, partly owing to the position of the peninsula on the route of bird migration between North Europe and Africa, by way of the Strait of Gibraltar. Spain is visited by groups migrating south in winter and others moving north in spring. Thus the guillemot and gannet appear on the Cantabrian coast in winter, while the flamingo nests in the Quadalquivir marshes in May.
A feature of Spanish ornithology is the large number and variety of the birds of prey. These include the bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus grandis), still common in the mountains of central and northern Spain, though dying out elsewhere, and two special forms, the Spanish eagle-owl (Bubo bubo hispanus), confined to the peninsula, and the Spanish Imperial eagle (Aquila heliaca adal berti), which is also found in North Africa. Other peculiar sub species are the royal cuckoo (Cuculus canorus minor), and the Iberian green woodpecker (Picas viridis sharpei). The azure winged magpie (Cyanopica cyanus cooki) is remarkable in that it represents a genus which only occurs elsewhere in 'Eastern Asia. The red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa) and two species of sand grouse (Pterocles orientalis and P. alchata), though not peculiar to the peninsula, are common in the so-called steppe areas and, besides the flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber), the southern shrike (Lanius excubitor), two quails, the Andalusian hemipode (Turnix sylvatica), and other water birds, are characteristic of the south.