El Torcal de Antequera is a great example of a “calcareous landscape”, the most amazing one not only in Spain but in all Europe.
It has a surface area of about 20km2. Torcal Alto, with 8km2, has passages, spires, towers, walls and the most varied and capriciously shaped rocks formed by the water and the wind over thousands of years.
Its flora, which is scarce in summer, flourishes in spring or after the first rains in autumn. On the fissures of the high limestone faces or at the foot of the cliffs sprout striking peonies, brambles, and ivies, which cover the figures, or numerous species of indigenous orchids.
It is defined as an Alpine karst. It is a large limestone plateau, which is longer from east to west, with an approximately pointed horizontal plan whose sharp tip commands the Boca del Asno pass. The rocky strata in the sierra lie horizontally or somewhat tilted towards the south.
It has a medium altitude, semihumid, Mediterranean climate, with three winter months and an annual rainfall of 1000mm. The summer months are extremely dry. Winds are south-easterly with a high degree of humidity, which produces a lot of fog. The existence of passages and dolines in the area causes two different microclimates.
