Here, from the top of Mount Facho (787 feet) you can look back at the road behind you. When you left the village of Finisterre and got to the Cape, with its rocky cliffs, you found yourself in an almost unspoiled landscape. The Cape, listed as a European Heritage site in 2007, is protected by law because of its high ecological value. It is part of the Natura 2000 Network that manages the Sites of Community Importance (SCI) and Areas of Special Protection of Natural Resources (ZEPVN).
The area occupied by the Costa da Morte SCI in Finisterre consists of 1670 acres of land and over 8600 acres of marine habitat. The beaches of Rostro, Mar de Fóra and Arnela, the almost vertical cliffs and the granite rocks are all part of this protected area.
As for vegetation, coastal scrubs are common in the highlands, and, as you get closer to sea level, mixed indigenous forests (oak and chestnut) abound.
A variety of sea birds nest in Cape Finisterre. There are also thousands of individuals of migratory species at different times of the year.
To know how far this natural environment stretches, look around and get a 360-degree view of it. Looking west, from the north side of the Rostro beach, a narrow strip of land borders the cape right up until the Corveiro beach, in the inner coast of the peninsula.
