Harper Adams University students travel to Spain for field trip

A group of second year BSc (Hons) Geography and Environmental Management students journeyed to Spain on a field trip as part of their module – geography field skills.

Accompanying the students were Harper Adams members of staff Dr Jonathan Cooper and Dr Leticia Chico Santamarta.

One of the students, Freya Spafford, said: “Once we’d received the itinerary for the week’s activities we were all very excited about the field work; it was the first time that this trip had been run.

“Over the course of the week, we visited a number of different places. The first day consisted of us visiting Torcal de Antequerra, which is an impressive limestone mountain feature, shaped like a pancake. While we were there, we were given guided tours from one of the rangers, which was very interesting and also gave us insight into a new and unique environment.

“The second day found us visiting the caves of Nerja. This was really interesting as it provided evidence of life from millions of years ago.

“A sea of plastic was our next visit, which included 31,000 hectares of plastic greenhouses, used as growers of fruit and vegetables. After a quick tasting session of our tour guides tomatoes, which she was very passionate about, we then continued on to a small town called Frigiliana, voted the prettiest town in Spain.

“On the fourth day we visited a government run facility which tests solar power technology and material for National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) in the desert.

“On the last two days, we conducted a group presentation before exploring the local nightlife. We then had a leisurely morning of exploring the town where we stayed, Torre Del Marre, before flying back home.

“For me, the highlight of the trip was the greenhouse tour as the agricultural practices are so different to those in the UK. It was interesting to see the differences first hand.”