Sierra Cabrera, Almería, Andalusia, Spaini

Regional Level Types
Sierra Cabrera	Sierra
Almería	Province
Andalusia	Autonomous Community
Spain	Country

The Sierra Cabrera is located in the province of Almeria (Andalusia, Spain), mainly in the municipalities of Turre and Mojácar. Its maximum altitudes are close to 1,000 m a.s.l., such as La Mezquita (962 m a.s.l.) and Arráez (919 m a.s.l.), so it receives sporadic snowfall.

The Sierra de Cabrera takes its name from an ancient Muslim population that lived in it, in a village called Cabreyra or Caprayra. This toponym would be due to the poverty of the land, which would only be used for grazing goats ("cabra" is Spanish for "goat").

In it there are numerous farmhouses such as La Carrasca, Los Moralicos, Aljuezar, Jacís, Alcandía, La Adelfa, Teresa, Cova Negra, Mofar, El Dondo, Cufría or Cortetes, but most of them are abandoned. Only Cortijo Cabrera and Cortijo Grande maintain a certain population thanks to residential tourism, and El Agua Enmedio and El Sopalmo thanks to their proximity to the coast.

The landscape of the Sierra Cabrera is marked by the greater rainfall it receives compared to the rest of the Levante Almeriense region. Together with the influence of marine humidity in the mountain range, this makes this coastal mountain range a green island.

Most of the mountain range, especially around the farmhouses, is shaped by man and is full of terraces and remains of irrigation ditches and old orchards. There are still remains of its agricultural past in the form of carob, almond, olive, fig, and pomegranate trees and vines, without forgetting the prickly pears and pitas that have already been naturalized.

The basal areas of the mountain range are made up of siliceous materials, while limestone formations occur on the summits. There are numerous springs in the area of contact between the two. In the sunny areas, siliceous materials predominate, while in the shady areas, limestone materials predominate.

Sierra Cabrera was covered with cork oak and holm oak forests until the eighteenth century, but the axe, the plough, and the livestock flocks ended up making them disappear. Of the ancient cork oak forests that once populated the mountains, only a few centenary cork oak trees (Quercus suber) remain with incalculable natural, ecological, and genetic value. They are a rarity in the Southeast of Spain and unique in the region. The holm oak forests suffered a similar fate, and at present, there are only small stands on the summits composed of holm oak (Quercus rotundifolia), kermes oak (Quercus coccifera) and juniper (Juniperus oxycedrus). In the area known as Los Murtals, reforestation has been carried out with Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis).

The current vegetation of the mountain range is made up of Mediterranean shrubs such as broom, thorn trees, rockroses, albaidales, romerales, thyme, gorse or espartizales, among which species such as the palm heart (Chamaerops humilis), the mastic (Pistacia lentiscus), the wild olive (Olea europaea), the alladierno (Rhamnus alaternus) or the labiérnago (Phillyrea sp.)

Around the numerous springs, ravines, and wet wadis species such as oleander (Nerium oleander), hackberry (Celtis australis), white poplar (Populus alba) and walnut (Juglans regia) develop. In these exceptionally humid places there is also an oak, the gall oak (Quercus faginea), and the strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo), which together with the aforementioned cork oak, constitute, despite their small number, the jewels of the botany of the mountains, both for their location (since cork oaks, gall oaks and strawberry trees are extremely rare in the natural province of Murcia-Almeria, in which Sierra Cabrera is framed) and because of their great genetic baggage (since it makes them capable of surviving in such a "dry" space).

On the other hand, the most common tree in this mountain range is the Carob ("Ceratonia Siliqua"). We can observe it both in humid areas and in hill and mountain areas. This tree, adapted to the arid climate of the Sierra Cabrera, constitutes one of the most important pillars of the ecosystem of the mountain range and the area. It provides food and shade to wildlife, in addition to providing fertilizer and maintaining the humidity of an arid and acidic soil.

As for the fauna of the Sierra Cabrera, it should be noted that it has wild boars, genets, foxes, mountain goats, martens and badgers, among the mammals. It also has several species of birds, including several birds of prey. With respect to reptiles, the ocellated lizard and a significant population of the endangered Moorish tortoise (Testudo graeca) stand out. Different amphibians can be found in the ponds and puddles. The presence of game species such as the red-legged partridge, the rabbit, and the hare is also worth noting.

The Sierra Cabrera has significant volcanism, especially in the volcanic area of Cóbdar.

Other Databases

Wikipedia:	https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_de_Cabrera_(Almer%C3%ADa)
Wikidata ID:	Q6127668

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