The most beautiful natural sites to discover Andalusia

Opened in 2002, it offers several possibilities for sports activities (nautical, horse and adventure) or cultural (including the Maritime World Museum), all along the coast.

Here is the Molino de Mareas (Mill des Marées) which houses exhibits on fauna and flora, it is a protected area of 2 145 ha of swamps, a small paradise for birds.

It is probably now more a theme theme park (formerly called Mini Hollywood) on the theme of cinema (with museum and reconstitution of film scenes) than a frozen decor, it also presents animals on day parole and a show of parrots.

Located in the north of the province of Almería, this park is a mountainous massif with an area of 22,562 hectares that culminates at 2,045 m (María). With a landscape marked by steep cliffs and almost vertical ravines. It can be accessed via the A-92-N and exited at Chirivel and Velez Rubio, where its information centre is located. With hot and dry weather in summer and more humid and often snowy in winter. Hiking can be practiced here (8 signposted trails).

In the east of the municipality, this area of humidity is very important for birds, especially for Oxyura leucocephala, a species of ducks threatened at world level, which meets in these lagoons one of Europe's main refuges.

To the north-east of Montoro and the province of Córdoba, this natural area is an obligatory passageway between the valley of the Guadalquivir and Castile. For a long time it was a large forest area, with a relatively gentle relief, 41,245 hectares, but today it forms a natural extension to the Los Pedroches valley, an integral part of the Sierra Morena. It is also a place for hiking. Information at the Cardeña Tourist Office (www.cardena.es).

It is a cave of over 2 500 metres, the largest in Andalusia and the fourth in Spain. It includes colonies of five species of bats.

This natural park is like a mini Doñana, with pine forests, marshes and indigenous flora. More than 90 species of birds and at least 50 types of fish and mammals live there. Apart from train circuits, different activities (from 3 €) can take place on the spot: kayaking, mountain biking, sailing… At La Casa de Los Torunos, you can find documentation, a library, a shop and a bicycle rental service.

Nearly 17 km east of Motril by the A-7 and then the N-340, you can reach this beach which has a small car park on the road. Then access will be on foot, following a steep terrain. But you will be rewarded for your efforts by arriving on a small isolated cove, dominated by its watchtower. Not a construction, it will be sand for 250 meters.