El Torcal de Antequera

El Torcal is a small limestone massif between Antequera and Málaga whose summit has been eroded into one of the strangest landscapes in Europe: a maze of stacked, weathered blocks that look like towers of giant plates or piles of books. It was declared a Natural Site of National Interest in July 1929, and a natural park of about 17 square kilometres was created in 1978. The highest point, Camorro de las Siete Mesas, reaches 1,336 metres.

The stone is Jurassic limestone laid down about 150 million years ago on the floor of a sea channel that once linked the Atlantic and the Mediterranean between Cádiz and Alicante. Uplifted to over 1,300 metres, the beds stayed almost horizontal, which is unusual in Andalusia. Rainwater then worked along two sets of fractures crossing at right angles, opening narrow corridors between the blocks, while dissolution and frost split the horizontal layers into the stacked, rounded shapes seen today. Many formations carry names from their shapes, such as the Sphinx, the Jug, the Camel and the Screw (El Tornillo), the best known. Caves riddle the rock; the Cueva del Toro has yielded Neolithic finds.

The walking is straightforward and absorbing. From the car park by the Torcal Alto visitor centre, the green route makes a 1.5 km loop of about 45 minutes through the most dramatic part of the maze, and the yellow route continues into Torcal Bajo, where the corridors become shadier and greener. A short path leads to the Las Ventanillas viewpoint, from which, according to Antequera's heritage office, the coast of Africa can be seen on clear days. The rock is rough and uneven, so stick to the marked paths.

Look down as well as around. The crevices shelter a remarkable flora, including rock-dwelling toadflaxes and saxifrages, red peonies, wild roses and some thirty kinds of orchid in spring. Spanish ibex clamber across the blocks, griffon vultures circle overhead and Montpellier snakes and ocellated lizards bask on the stone. Summer heat and winter cold are both fierce at this height, so spring and autumn are the best seasons to come.

Getting there

El Torcal lies about 6 km south of Antequera in a straight line, reached by a paved mountain road on the Villanueva de la Concepción side of the range. Parking at the upper visitor centre is limited, and the access road closes when it is full; a shuttle bus then runs from the lower car park, about 2 km below. There is no scheduled public transport to the top. Málaga Airport (AGP) is about 32 km away.