Читать книгу Walking and Trekking in the Sierra Nevada. 38 walks, scrambles and multi-day traverses онлайн

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The range gained national park status in 1999 and covers an area of 85,883 hectares, making it the largest national park in Spain. It was declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1986, in recognition of its exceptionally diverse plant, bird and animal species.

The Sierra Nevada is bordered in the west by the plains of the Vega de Granada, while in the east the mountains drop down to merge with the arid desert badlands of Tabernas in Almería. To the north west the hills of the Sierra de Huétor merge into the dry plains around Guadix and Baza to the east; and to the south the Sierra Nevada drops down into the hills of the Alpujarras, a mix of whitewashed villages and lush green valleys fed by the waters of the Sierra Nevada.

The area is very accessible, being only a two-hour drive from the sun-drenched beaches of the Costa del Sol. Despite this it sees relatively few visitors to its slopes, apart from at weekends and during fiestas (public holidays) in summer, when the locals enjoy the high mountains. That is, of course, part of the attraction. So close to Africa and the costas and yet so wild and inhospitable. The contrast couldn’t be more marked.