The southern Spanish region of Andalucia offers many excellent rock
climbing venues including the world famous gorge at El Chorro. 

The vast majority of the rock climbing within Andalucia is on limestone rock, with the odd crag being either slate or sandstone rock. Virtually all of
the routes are bolted though some do require traditional gear such as nuts and
cams. With the exception of El Chorro, Cahorros and Los Vados, the routes are
mainly single pitch, with the odd 2 or 3 pitch routes available. Situated only 50 Km inland from Malaga, the rock climbing area of El Chorro consists of a huge gorge, which offers some fantastic rock climbing with its own unique atmosphere. Here alone there are over 650 routes, at all grades and up to 7-pitches long.

To the northern and southern of Malaga have several excellent crags other than El Chorro. These include such as Desplomilandia, Torcal de Antequera, Archidona, Turon, Cauche, Cañete, Montejaque and Puerto Rico, Mijas or Casares on the famoust Costa del Sol. Each of these crags offer 100's of bolted sports routes on limestone rock and across a good range of grades. 

There is some good rock climbing from Granada and then south to the coast, where there are 8 significant crags with well over 600 routes across all grades. The largest is Los Cahorros
just south of Granada, with over a dozen buttresses forming a bowl at the end of a valley. Here there is a good selection of multi-pitch and single pitch sports routes.  Other good sunny crag is Alfacar and some buttress of Los Vados with multi-pitch and single pitch sports routes. Close to Jaen there a number of crags with a total of over 350 routes, which are mainly single pitch sports routes on limestone rock.

Cadiz has one of the best climates of the southern and not crowded rock climbing areas. San Bartolo is one of the best sandstone crags in Europe with a total of over 250 routes single pitch sports routes and multi-pitch too and some do require traditional gear in a southern wall. Walls area overlooking wild beaches, Gibraltar straight and African coast. Inland rock climbing is in the mountain area around Grazalema Natural Park.

The rock climbing around Cordoba Almeria and Sevilla is not as concentrated as the rest of the region. Though there are still some good crags to be found, particularly at Espiel(Cordoba), which offers over 230 routes with a good selection of grades Cerro del Hierro (Sevilla) and Cacin (Almeria).

 Andalucia rock climbing logistics

The best time of year to visit Andalucia to go rock climbing is from the autumn through to the spring. With the Sierra Nevada Mountains rising to 3,500m. above Granada it is also possible to mix some skiing and rock climbing on the same trip!