The persisting vision of Andalucía, among foreigners in particular, is of a parched land covered in scrub. As typically Mediterranean a vision as this might be, it does not do justice to the fact that Andalucía’s landscapes vary from temperate rainforests to deserts. This diversity is also manifested in the contrast between the jagged peaks of its mountain ranges and the boundless horizons of its low lands. The rich geographic variety of Andalucía is the product of this varied relief; it creates the microclimates that produce so many different vegetation zones.
Dissecting Andalucía is the valley of the Guadalquivir River; this floodplain, with its gently undulated hills, awash with golden expanses of cereals and sunflowers, has been the breadbasket of Andalucía since classical times. In spring, when the fields explode in a riot of wild flowers, this garden of plenty becomes even more beautiful. South of Seville, the Guadalquivir drains through lowlands en route to the marshes and wetlands of the Coto Doñana, before reaching the Gulf of Cádiz. This low lying basin of inland drainage is not only Europe’s largest nature reserve but also one of the most important wetland wildernesses on the continent.
Enveloping these flatland regions is a collection of mountain ranges, which act as a natural buffer and preserve the conditions that make Andalucía unique. Keeping out the harsh climate of Extremadura and La Mancha is the Sierra Morena. A gently sloping eroded plain interrupted by calcareous outcrops, it is a land of meadows and oak forests. Further to the west it gets wetter and greener, with chestnut covered slopes that are green in summer and different shades of ochre and auburn in autumn. The Sierra de Cazorla, in the northeast corner of Andalucía, is marked by striking relief rather than altitude. Eagles and vultures glide over jagged peaks and gorges carved out of the limestone rock by chemical weathering.
Contrasting with these evergreens are the changing colours of the almond trees that also add colour to the Serranía de Ronda, the mountain range that rises steeply out of the coastal plain of the Costa del Sol. The mountains here are dissected by plunging streams that have cut deep into the original plateau, creating truncated valleys and vertical rock faces. The green beauty of these mountain ranges reaches a peak in the valley of Grazalema, the wettest spot in Spain. The intense lush greenery of its temperate rainforest represents one extreme of Andalucia’s varied landscape.
The barren, remote wastelands of the Tabernas desert, just north of Almería, reflect the other end of spectrum. Here, scenes more reminiscent of North Africa or Arizona provided the setting for the famous ‘spaghetti Westerns’. Shaped by the wind and sand, Europe’s only true desert is framed in the west by the snow-capped peaks of the majestic Sierra Nevada Mountains. This interplay of sand-coloured rocks, deep blue skies and snowy peaks produces a dazzling display of natural extremes.
Lying within an hour’s distance from the desert, the Sierra Nevada could not be more different from it. As the only Alpine landscape in Andalucía it also sports the southernmost ski resort in Europe. Mulhacén, Iberia’s highest peak, spirals to a height of 3,482 metres, just 40 kilometres from the sea. From here one is afforded an incredible panorama down a snow-covered sweep to the lush, subtropical coastline and the North African peaks that remind us that in Andalucía we’re on the very edge of the European continent.
Really, Andalucía has it all! View a selection of fincas and cortijos for sale, in and around Cómpeta, here