Monegros Desert

The Monegros Desert or Desierto de los Monegros is a semidesert in Aragón, northeastern Spain, spanning the provinces of Zaragoza and Huesca. It is a semi arid zone prone to frequent droughts. It is noted for its annual electronic music festival held in mid-July, the Monegros Desert Festival.GeographyThe Monegros Desert spans the provinces of Zaragoza and Huesca in the region of Aragón, including the comarca of Monegros in Huesca. Part of the desert lies in the Ebro Valley. The desert covers about and consists of 49 villages in 31 municipalities. The highest point of the Monegros Desert is Oscuro, at an altitude of. Much of the landscape topography varies between and and is relatively flat semi-desert, with habitats of shrub-steppes prone to frequent droughts with high temperatures with hardly any rainfall (about 350 mm per year / 13.78 inches). Deserted farms and farm houses and juniperous woods are also seen in scattered locations.Flora and faunaThe environment requires plants that can endure salinity and dryness. Though the natural habitat of the region included shrub-steppe and juniper, cereal grasses have become replacements.Lesser kestrel frequent the area; they nest in caves spread across of the Monegros Desert.