The European beech used to be fairly common in the western Sistema Central, evidenced by local flora that is characteristic of beech forests. However, the forests were decimated by energy demands after the Industrial Revolution as beechwood makes excellent charcoal. Coupled with shifting climate patterns, the species has not made a recovery in the area even with the elimination of wood as an energy source. Apart from the haya de Herguijuela and its twin, the last remaining beech stand in central Spain is a forest in the northern reaches of the Sierra de Guadarrama in Soria.
