The Sierra de Almijara is a mountain range in the provinces of

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

and

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

in southern Spain. The rocks are mainly marble, giving a white or gray color to the narrow ridges and deep ravines. The range is mostly protected by the

Sierras of Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama Natural Park The Sierras of Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama Natural Park () is a protected area in the Spanish provinces of Province of Málaga, Málaga and Province of Granada, Granada. It contains the Sierra de Tejeda and Sierra de Almijara mountains. The park i ...

Location

The Sierras of Tejeda and Almijara form a single range about west of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

. The mountains form a barrier between the coast and the interior. They are part of the Penibaetic System. The Sierras of Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama Natural Park covers . The park contains the Sierra de Tejeda and Sierra de Almijara mountains in the

Axarquía Axarquía () is a in the province of Málaga, Andalusia in southern Spain. It is the wedge-shaped area east of Málaga. Its name is traced back to Arabic (, meaning "the eastern egion). It extends along the coast and inland. Its coastal towns m ...

''comarca'' of the eastern province of Málaga and the Alhama ''comarca'' on the southwest of the province of Granada.

Topography

The Sierra de Almijara is a rough mass of marble mountains with sharp ridges that stretches east from the Puerto de Cómpeta. The mountains contain narrow ridges separated by deep valleys cut by the streams and rivers, resulting in many small sub-basins. The most distinct peak is the Cerro del Lucero. Navachica is the highest peak in the Sierra Almijara. The peak has an elevation of and

topographic prominence In topography, prominence or relative height (also referred to as autonomous height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contour line encircling ...

of . The Sierra Almijara and Sierra Tejeda form the southern margin of the western part of the

Granada basin The Granada Basin, Depression of Granada or Granada Depression () is a totally enclosed valley in Andalusia, Spain. The river Genil runs through the valley upon exiting from the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada until it passes through the Infi ...

, and contain tributaries of the

Cacín River The Cacín River () is a river in Andalusia, Spain. It is supplied by streams flowing north from the Sierra de Almijara and Sierra de Tejeda into the Granada Basin. The river originates in the Los Bermejales Reservoir, and flows north to join the ...

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58Cacín,

Almuñécar Almuñécar () is a Spanish city and municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the southwestern part of the comarcas of Spain, comarca of the Costa Granadina, in the province of Granada. It is located on the shores of the Mediterranean sea ...

and

Nerja Nerja () is a municipality on the Costa del Sol in the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is part of the comarca of La Axarquía. It is on the country's southern Mediterranean coast, about east of ...

to in Arenas del Rey. Temperatures in the areas with marine influence, including Nerja, Almuñecar and Frigiliana range from . Higher in the mountains the temperatures range from . Further inland in the Alhama region they range from in summer. At low and medium elevations to climate is thermic semi-arid mediterranean. The mean air temperature is and mean annual precipitation is . Most of the rain is torrential and falls between November and March.

Geology

All of the park has the

calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime (mineral), lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of Science, scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcare ...

formations of the Subbética region, with

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...

phyllite Phyllite ( ) is a type of foliation (geology), foliated metamorphic rock formed from slate that is further metamorphosed so that very fine grained white mica achieves a preferred orientation.Stephen Marshak ''Essentials of Geology'', 3rd ed. I ...

s, etc. The area is rich in

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock that was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tecton ...

and

gneiss Gneiss (pronounced ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. This rock is formed under p ...

over 300 million years old. The Sierra de Almijara holds one of Spain's main sources of dolomitic marble. The marble gives white and gray tones to the ridges and ravines. The limestone has been eaten out by water to create a maze of fissures, depressions and caves, including the deep canyon of the

Chíllar River The Chíllar River is a river in the east of the Province of Málaga, Spain. It originates in the Sierra de Almijara and enters Mediterranean Sea just west of the town of Nerja. Location Most of the river runs through the Sierras of Tejeda, ...

and the

Caves of Nerja The Caves of Nerja () are a series of caverns close to the town of Nerja in the Province of Málaga, Spain. Stretching for almost , the caverns are one of Spain's major tourist attractions. Concerts are regularly held in one of the chambers, whi ...

. The Caves of Nerja (''Cueva de Nerja''), with an entrance just south of the park, is a National Monument. The parent rock consists of dolomite

formed in the

Triassic The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...

. It is intensively folded and cut by transversal faults. Weathering in some areas has resulted in sands of almost pure dolomite crystals with very little clay, and in stony ground of partially altered marbles. Sandy

regosol A Regosol in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) is very weakly developed mineral soil in Soil consolidation, unconsolidated materials. Regosols are extensive in erosion, eroding lands, in particular in arid and semi-arid areas and i ...

s develop with high levels of

carbonate A carbonate is a salt of carbonic acid, (), characterized by the presence of the carbonate ion, a polyatomic ion with the formula . The word "carbonate" may also refer to a carbonate ester, an organic compound containing the carbonate group ...

s and

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 ...

and low levels of plant nutrients. Erosion due to the steep slopes, lack of vegetation and fires prevent the soil from developing.

Peaks

From west to east, the named peaks are

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Almijara, Sierra de Alhama Tejeda Landforms of the Province of Granada Landforms of the Province of Málaga