Antequera, the heart of Andalusia

The Moorish fortress with its towers and many churches give a typical medieval sighting to the city. The fortress provides great views on the mountains on one side and to hills covered with olive trees on the other side. There is rich farmland irrigated by the Guadalhorce River. For centuries this has been one of Andalusia's most fertile areas, and is currently a leading producer of asparagus, cereals and olives. In summer, its fields turn brilliant yellow with sunflowers.

El Dolmen de Menga

The city is absolutely worth a visit, but just outside the centre are some interesting things to see as well. The first is a magnificent dolmen, with an information centre, just outside Antequera in the direction of Córdoba.

Parque Natural "El Torcal"

The other one is a Nature Reserve called El Torcal which is only a 10 minutes drive from Antequera. It is known for its limestone rock formations and it is one of the most beautiful and impressive limestone landscapes in Europe. The whole area was under sea until one hundred million years ago. Then the movements of the Earth's crust forced it upward into hills and mountains up to 1300 m. The limestone still kept its layered horizontal formation. Because of this, over the millions of years the rain and wind have been able to chisel away at these layers to form incredible shapes.

The park is situated between the town of Antequera and the village Villanueva de la Concepción. In Antequera you will find signs with directions. At the parking is an information centre and from there three walking routes start. These are all marked out with different coloured arrows on wooden sticks. They vary from 30 minutes till 3 hours. From the highest viewing point, el mirador, you can see the whole of the El Torcal Park and the African Coastline. You need good walking shoes or trainers, and in the warm months a bottle of water.

Lobo Park

If you are interested in animals and more specifically in dogs and wolves, you should visit the Lobopark close to Antequera. The wolvepark is a private park with several wolvepacks (from North America, Europe, and Spain) which live in huge enclosures, where they can live their own life. In tours information is given about their habits, packlife etc. The tours leave several times a day.