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The Sierra
de Gádor mountain range is situated in the south-western corner of the
province of Almería. It belongs to the Betic system, specifically the
Cordillera Penibética. The maximum altitude is 2249 meters – the summit
of Launilla Morrón.
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| Enix © Robert Bovington |
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To the
north is the Sierra Nevada; to the south lies the Mediterranean Sea
whilst the Sierras Alhamilla and Contraviesa lie respectively to the
east and west.
At the foot of the Sierra de Gádor lies the region of the Poniente Almeriense
(Western Almería), traditionally called the Campo de Dalias which, in
my opinion, is by far the least attractive part of the diverse region of
Almería. Author Gerald Brenan didn’t like it either – “…a depressing
sight met my eye. For fifteen miles the road ran in a perfectly straight
line across a stony desert…” was part of his description of the Campo
de Dalías in his book “South to Granada”. Nowadays the stony desert is
replaced by an ocean of plastic, the ubiquitous invernaderos. These
greenhouses may have allowed the province of Almería to become Europe’s
market garden but they sure look ugly!
Never
mind! The Sierra de Gádor is a pleasant, largely unspoilt mountain range
that is technically part of that delightful region of the Alpujarras.
The following towns are within its boundaries:
Felix,
Enix, Gádor, Alhama de Almería, Alicún, Huécija, Íllar, Instinción,
Rágol, Fondón, Laujar de Andarax, Alcolea, Berja, Dalías and Vícar
In the past, the Sierra de Gádor was heavily mined, mainly
for lead and silver but now water is its biggest treasure. The mines
were abandoned in the early nineteenth century. Water, surprisingly,
still appears to exist in sufficient quantities. In villages like Berja,
Felix and Dalías there are numerous fuentes where water can be obtained
– the meagre rainfall and the melted snow from the high sierra is
efficiently stored and purified before being released as pure clean
water.
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| Illar © Robert Bovington |
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| Beninar © Robert Bovington |
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| Beninar © Robert Bovington |
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“a grumpy old man in Spain”
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