Mount Abantos

Mount Abantos is a mountain in the Sierra de Guadarrama range in the Sistema Central of Spain, a chain that runs from east to west. For the most part, the mountain is located in the municipality of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in the Community of Madrid, with part of its west side in the province of Ávila.GeographyThe mountain is one of the most prominent mountains in the Sierra de Guadarrama. It has an altitude of 1753m. The northern slope of Abantos lies in the Cuelgamuros valley.A small part of the wast side of the mountain lies in the province of Ávila (Castilla y León). The mountain has a smooth contour, and almost all of its slope is covered by pine trees, some of them repopulated. On the wast side of Abantos is the port of Malagon, one of the toughest mountain stages of the Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain).EtymologyMount Abantos takes its name from abanto, a name for various species of vultures such as the black vulture, the red buzzard, the griffon vulture or African vulture, which can sometimes be seen flying on the mountain. During the reign of King Philip II, the mountain was also known as Buen Monte del Oso (lit. Good Bear Mountain) because of the abundance of big game species. At the top of Abantos is a weather station and an yellow electromagnetic signal reflector panel.