Antequera And Eerie El Torcal, Spain

Antequera – Bronze Age burial mounds, Spanish Baroque architecture, and a Moorish Castle. Nearby El Torcal – showcasing some of the most spectacular limestone scenery in Europe. This region was a must-stop on our Spanish motorhome road trip.

Strategically located, Antequera is also known as the “heart of Andalusia” due to its central location among other major Spanish tourist destinations such as Malaga, Granada, Seville and Cordoba. These great cities are all within easy reach for a day trip by car, bus or train. It was a no brainer for us, since we were already exploring this area.

The icon of Antequera is Peña de Los Enamorados  “Lovers Rock”, 880 metres above sea level this mountain is also popularly known as “Montaña del Indio” because it resembles the profile of an American Indian. It can be spotted from various places all around this area.

Can you see the resemblance to an American Indian?

The mountain was named after a tale of forbidden love. According to the legend two young Moorish lovers from rival clans, threw themselves from the rock whilst being pursued by the girl’s father and his accomplices.

We stayed two nights at the free Aire in Antequera (GPS location N37.02132 W4.57180) located in the centre of town, it was perfect for enjoying its delights. Thank you Antequera!

There is lots to see here including the following:

A Moorish Castle sitting on the hill overlooking the city.

The Moors dominated this area from 716 AD and built the Castle/Fortress to protect themselves from the Spanish Catholic Army. The Alcazaba was finally taken by Ferdinand I in 1410 when he conquered Antequera.

Views from the Castle’s gardens

The Alcazaba is a very interesting place to visit, at a cost of just 8 Euros for us both it was definitely worth the money. We were given an audio guide which was very useful to listen to whilst exploring the Castle. A rich history and beautiful views.

Views from the Castle’s tower

Strategic place to build a Castle

From the top of the towers It was possible to see far into the surrounding landscape, the fertile farmland and mountains. The white town spreading over the landscape below with its many historic buildings dotted around.

Burial Mounds

Two Bronze Age burial mounds (barrows or dolmens) the Dólmen de Menga and the Dólmen de Viera are found here in Antequera. Dating back to the third millennium BCE, they are the largest such structures in Europe. The huge rock slabs guard the entrance of the burial chamber.

The Antequera Dólmens are a UNESCO world heritage site since 2016. The heritage site status also includes  Peña de Los Enamorados and El Torcal Nature Reserve.

Dólmen de Menga

The burial mounds are free to visit, we visited the larger one called Dólmen de Menga, it was built with thirty-two megaliths, the largest weighing 180 tonnes, think how was that possible more than 3,000 years ago? When uncovered in the 19th Century, archaeologists found the skeletons of several hundred people buried inside.

After visiting the burial site, we made our way to the town centre for lunch… both starving with so much walking and exploring. We sat at an outdoors little plaza and basked in the sun whilst enjoying a tasty “menu del dia”, which consisted of a three course meal and a drink for 10 Euro each (Brian had a glass of wine with his meal). The quality of the “menu del dia” can be a bit hit and miss sometimes, but usually it is very good.

We really enjoyed Antequera, I would recommend to spend at least two days here to enjoy most of the cultural and historical sites.

Eerie El Torcal

No visit to this area would be complete without exploring this incredible Nature Reserve. We left Antequera early one morning and headed for the hills towards El Torcal Nature  Reserve. A fabulous, but a little unnerving drive through narrow roads which got a little scarier when we found ourselves surrounded by fog and poor visibility.

There is a large car park by the visitors centre. We noticed that some motorhomes have stayed here overnight. We did not realise that it was allowed, it would have made a nice place for us to stay overnight.

We waited in the van and made ourselves a cup of tea hoping that the fog would lift. But since it did not budge we decided to take the plunge and follow the “Ruta Amarilla”, the yellow route which starts at the car park and takes about 2 hours to complete. although I don’t think we actually took that long. The route is well signposted with yellow marks and arrows. There is also an easier route called “Ruta Verde” the green route which takes 40 to 60 minutes to complete.

Follow the yellow signs

The karst formations here are amongst the most important in Europe. The whole park looked mysterious and eerie surrounded by the fog. We walked around mesmerized by the weird rock formations. It was also wonderful to see so many beautiful wild flowers, and strange trees covered in thick moss.

Eerie rock formations made even more mysterious by the fog

Foggy, but at least not raining… Yet.

Strange geology

The reserve is also home to a good population of Spanish Ibex, we spotted many among the strange rock formations. They were totally undisturbed by our presence. We had the path mostly to ourselves, with only the sound of birds and the company of Spanish Ibex along the way.

Spanish Ibex undisturbed by our presence

Here we saw a whole family with a little baby Ibex

Towards the end of our trekking it started raining quite heavily, and the rocky path became very slippery and hazardous. We donned our waterproofs and walked slowly, but steadily, back to the visitors centre, glad to be wearing sturdy walking shoes.

On arrival back at the centre, we felt relieved to be back in a dry and warm place. We sat at their restaurant and ordered a hearty soup with bread to warm us up.

As we were leaving there were more people arriving, some large buses bringing a group of noisy school children. The fog and rain stopped. Soon enough the sun was making an appearance as we drove downhill through another fabulous scenic road on our way to the next destination.