Geography of Andalucía

To the north, Andalucía is bounded by the rolling Sierra Morena mountains, which stretch 400 km east from the Portuguese border, through the provinces of Huelva, Seville, Córdoba and Jaén. Historically, the Sierra Morena formed a natural barrier between Andalucía and the rest of Spain, and there are still relatively few main roads through the mountains.

Guadalquivir valley and Atlantic coast

Below the Sierra Morena, the Guadalquivir river valley forms a large, elongated triangle, stretching from the source of the river in the Sierra de Cazorla in the northeast down to the Atlantic in the southwest. This is the agricultural heartland of Andalucía, with the olive groves of the upper valley gradually giving way to wheat, oranges, vines and – finally, and controversially – strawberries as you head downstream.

The wetlands around the river’s estuary, which are an important stopover for migrating birds, are protected as the Doñana National Park. Either side of the estuary, you have the wide, sandy beaches of the Andalucía’s Atlantic coastline, known as Costa de la Luz. Their one downside is that they can be windy, but for windsurfers and kitesurfers that’s just an added attraction.

South of the Guadalquivir, a series of mountain ranges separate the river valley from the Mediterranean coast. The highest of these is the Sierra Nevada, where you find Mulhacén, at 3,479 metres above sea level the tallest mountain in the Iberian Peninsula. Once upon a time, the peaks of these mountains were snow-covered all year round, but climate change has put paid to that.

Moving east from the Sierra Nevada, the climate gets drier. In the north of Granada province you have the Granada Geopark, which is one of the areas within the European continent least altered by humans. The most striking features are the dry and hostile badlands, occasionally punctuated by surprisingly lush river valleys. Even further east and south, you reach the arid mountains of Almería, as well as the Tabernas desert, said to be the only true desert in Europe.

The most famous part of the coastline is the Costa del Sol, with its sandy beaches in the provinces of Málaga and Cádiz. Next, heading east, you reach the Costa Tropical in Granada province, which has fine gravel beaches. The final stretch is the Costa de Almería, which includes the lovely coves and sandy beaches of Cabo de Gata, a Marine-Terrestrial Natural Park with an incredibly dry climate that suits cactuses and other succulents.