Читать книгу The Sierras of Extremadura. 32 half and full-day walks in western Spain's hills онлайн

8 страница из 51

Geography and geology

Extremadura sits west of Madrid and east of the Portuguese border. It is the fifth largest autonomous region in Spain and is divided into two provinces: Cáceres and Badajoz. At 41,633 square kilometres it is just larger than Switzerland. From the border with Castile and León in the north to the Andalucian border in the south is 280 kilometres. On a map the region looks like a layered cake: from north to south are the Sistema Central mountains, the Tajo river basin, the Montes de Toledo, the Guadiana river basin and the Sierra Morena.

Granite boulders are a feature of almost every walk in the northern and central sierras

Across the north, within the Sistema Central, lie the Sierra de Gata, Sierra de Béjar and the Sierra de Gredos. These forested sierras contain the highest peaks in Extremadura, reaching over 2000m. They are snow-covered for up to six months of the year. Springs that well up high in the sierras are engorged with snow melt and form numerous rivers which keep the valleys permanently green.