El Chorro

The whole marsh of El Chorro is spectacular. Situated between the villages of Ardales and Alora and where nature had to yield to the necessity to share its whims.

In the water swims peacefully the dream of any fisherman. Sheer walls that shelter a rich flora and endemic fauna. In fact, an important colony of almost extinct vulture specie lives in the summits of these mountains.

Mountains that on the other hand are a real delight for people who are fond of climbing. Numerous different kinds of sports can be practised in the open air: trekking, canoeing… without motors, without noise, without pollution. By canoe you can get to places that are impossibly reached by land. By bicycle you will ride in secret and hidden paths. On foot you will reach the overwhelming defile of the Gaitanes. With an elevation of 400 metres, the defile counts in its narrowest part with former operational path that looks over a void at 100 metres height and has a length of three kilometres. It is called the Caminito del Rey (the king’s path). It was built by Rafael Benjumea from 1901 to 1905 and inaugurated, as well as the dam of El Chorro, by King Alfonso XII in 1921. The dam is entirely made of stone and is the centre of its beautiful landscape.