Scenery
 The province of Malaga presents to nature lovers as varied and inspiring a territory as can be imagined. This is especially true of its interior but there are also large and surprisingly well-preserved spaces displaying nature with all her beauty intact along the teeming coastal fringe that is the usual destination of heavy tourist traffic.
The diversity of Malaga’s territory—many do not hesitate to call it a small continent—comes from its complex terrain. It is extremely mountainous except in the northern part where fertile and well-tilled plains spread over the Antequera lowlands. The rest of the province is a succession of mountain systems, some with peaks rising above 2,000 metres. This explains the abundance of paradisiacal valleys that have been formed by rivers and streams, the leafy plant cover that in some cases is adorned with such unique species as the Spanish fir, and some singularly beautiful rock formations that are considered true marvels of nature.
Málaga boasts 23 protected natural spaces that are classified as natural parks (Sierra de las Nieves, Montes de Málaga, Sierras de Tejeda, Almijara y Alhama, Los Alcornocales and Sierra de Grazalema); natural areas (Acantilados de Maro, Desembocadura del Guadalhorce, Los Gaitanes Gorge, Los Reales de Sierra Bermeja, Sierra Crestellina and El Torcal de Antequera); nature preserves (the lakes of Fuente de Piedra, Archidona, Campillos and La Ratosa); greenbelt parks (Sierra de Gracia, Dehesa de Mercadillo and Pinar del Hacho), or natural monuments (Pinsapo de las Escaleretas, Tornillo de El Torcal, Cañón de las Buitreras, Falla de la Sierra del Calamorro and Dunas de Artola or Cabopino).
The Ronda Mountains stand out above all the other places in Malaga that invite one to enjoy nature in all her splendour. Within them are found the natural parks of Sierra de las Nieves, Sierra de Grazalema and Los Alcornocales, and the valleys of the rivers Genal and Guadiaro.
The Sierra de las Nieves Nature Park is made up of the municipalities of Alozaina, El Burgo, Casarabonela, Guaro Istán, Monda, Ojén, Tolox and Junquera, which are remarkable for maintaining a perfect state of balance with relation to the environment. It has been designated a Biosphere Preserve and within it are found both the province’s highest peak, the 1,919-metre Torrecilla, and the deepest chasm in Spain, the GESM, which has been explored to 1,098 metres.
The rugged terrain of the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park has formed such unusual caverns as the Hundidero-Gato complex, the largest cave in Andalusia to be carved out by an underground stream, and the La Pileta Cave in Benaoján, which is world famous for its beautiful prehistoric paintings.
Only one village in the province of Malaga, Cortes de la Frontera, penetrates the boundaries of Los Alcornocales Park. Cañón de las Buitreras, designated as a National Monument in Andalusia, is found here. The waters of the River Guadiaro have carved out a splendid crevice that in some areas exceeds 100 metres in depth. This park is noteworthy for containing the most extensive cork oak forest on the Iberian Peninsula and one of the largest in the world. Through it flow several waterways that diversify and enrich these exceptional lands.
The Genal and Guadiaro valleys wind through the aforementioned parks, but in their own right they are landscapes worthy of a trip along their respective rivers.
The Sierras de Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama Natural Park, on the easternmost edge of the province of Malaga, separates the extensive La Axarquía region from the territory of Granada. This is a formidable mountain mass that serves as a barrier between these Andalusian provinces and provides an impressive backdrop for the villages that seem to seek shelter on its slopes. These mountains, which include the 2,068-metre peak of La Maroma, have traditionally been a bottomless well of legends dealing with rebellions, poaching and smuggling, and even of well-documented remarkable historic events.
The collection of shallow lakes in the northern part of the province of Malaga offers a different but no less interesting landscape. They are remarkable especially for the numerous forms of bird life that use these wetlands on their migrations to and from Europe and Africa. These are the lakes of Fuente de Piedra, La Ratosa, Archidona and Campillos.
In the approximate centre of the province of Malaga is one of the most extraordinary geographic features of Andalusia and the entire Iberian Peninsula: Los Gaitanes Gorge. Along with the adjacent Guadalhore Reservoirs it forms an area of astonishing contrasts and stunning beauty.
The Guadalhorce Reservoirs, between the municipalities of Ardales, Campillos, Tebas and Antequera, serve as a kind of vestibule to Los Gaitanes Gorge. Through them flow the rivers Guadalhorce, Turón and Guadalteba, right before this place’s terrain undergoes the tremendous transformation wrought by the El Chorro Gorge.
In the heart of the Antequera region and only 12 kilometres from the historic city of Antequera, the El Torcal Natural Area, the most impressive karsts landscape in Europe, displays its fantasy in stone over an area of 12 square kilometres. This imposing assortment of limestone rocks was formed when the sea floor was thrust upwards some 150 million years ago by an Alpine folding. The softness of the exposed rock and the flatness of some of these peaks facilitated the action of the wind and rain in sculpting a kind of “natural museum” whose “works” have been baptised in the popular imagination with names suggested by the random forms into which the stone was shaped. The itinerary known as the “Green Route” allows the visitor to observe the varied vegetation, the geological formations and the wildlife. This tour can be made in an hour or less and is the best for people who are not very athletically inclined since its difficulty is medium to low, making it accessible to almost everyone.
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