Sierra de Grazalema, Andalucia, Spain
The Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park is a Natural Park in the north east part of the province of Cádiz in Andalucia.
The Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park contains within its 127,740 acres a complex of mountain ranges known collectively as the Sierra de Grazalema, which in turn are part of the Cordillera Subbética. Other ranges comprising the Sierra de Grazalema include the Sierra de Zafalgar, the Sierra del Pinar, and the Sierra de Endrinal. El Torreón at 5425 feet is the tallest peak.
Designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1977, the Sierra de Grazalema was declared the first Natural Park in Andalucia in 1984 and is one of Spain's most ecologically outstanding areas.
The Natural Park is famous for its spectacularly rugged limestone landscape of cliffs, gullies, caves and gorges. By far the most impressive gorge is Garganta Verde rocky walls that tower vertically for 1300 feet. Andalucia's largest cave system is also here, the Hundidero-Gato with its biggest cavern measuring 2.5 miles long and an entrance of 200 feet tall.
The region is well known for being the rainiest place in Spain, with an annual rainfall of over 85 inches This means that the 1,300 Mediterranean plant species that have been registered here, many of them endemic and some of them unique to the Sierra de Grazalema, flourish. There is a magnificent and well preserved forest of the rare Spanish Fir, a relic from the Tertiary period, in the Sierra del Pinar on the slopes of El Torreón.
Dotted around the Sierra de Grazalema are attractive “pueblos blancos” or “white villages” including Grazalema and Zahara de la Sierra. A stunning mountain road rises north west from Grazalema to Puerto de las Palomas at 4450 feet before descending to Zahara de la Sierra.
Date: 7th September 2013
Location: view from Puerto de las Palomas between Grazalema and Zahara de la Sierra, Andalucia, Spain
The Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park contains within its 127,740 acres a complex of mountain ranges known collectively as the Sierra de Grazalema, which in turn are part of the Cordillera Subbética. Other ranges comprising the Sierra de Grazalema include the Sierra de Zafalgar, the Sierra del Pinar, and the Sierra de Endrinal. El Torreón at 5425 feet is the tallest peak.
Designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1977, the Sierra de Grazalema was declared the first Natural Park in Andalucia in 1984 and is one of Spain's most ecologically outstanding areas.
The Natural Park is famous for its spectacularly rugged limestone landscape of cliffs, gullies, caves and gorges. By far the most impressive gorge is Garganta Verde rocky walls that tower vertically for 1300 feet. Andalucia's largest cave system is also here, the Hundidero-Gato with its biggest cavern measuring 2.5 miles long and an entrance of 200 feet tall.
The region is well known for being the rainiest place in Spain, with an annual rainfall of over 85 inches This means that the 1,300 Mediterranean plant species that have been registered here, many of them endemic and some of them unique to the Sierra de Grazalema, flourish. There is a magnificent and well preserved forest of the rare Spanish Fir, a relic from the Tertiary period, in the Sierra del Pinar on the slopes of El Torreón.
Dotted around the Sierra de Grazalema are attractive “pueblos blancos” or “white villages” including Grazalema and Zahara de la Sierra. A stunning mountain road rises north west from Grazalema to Puerto de las Palomas at 4450 feet before descending to Zahara de la Sierra.
Date: 7th September 2013
Location: view from Puerto de las Palomas between Grazalema and Zahara de la Sierra, Andalucia, Spain
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Also in: South Spain - September 2013
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