Las Bardenas Reales, Navarre
Proper on the border between Navarre and Aragón lies the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve of Bardenas Reales, a harsh desert-like panorama simply 70km from the luxurious Pyrenees. Weird rock formations and mountains are scattered all through like big sandcastles sculpted from one thing or somebody excessive above.
Gaze upon the formations of Navarre’s Bardenas Reales. Photograph: Jesús Esteban San José / Pexels
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Laguna Rosa, Valencia area
Lakes are sometimes described as cerulean blue, turquoise, navy and even aqua marine, however by no means bubble-gum pink. Arriving on the Laguna Rosa close to the favored resort of Torrevieja feels as if it’s a world away and will nearly be on one other planet, the place pink water is the norm. One in all Europe’s largest salt lakes, it’s really Halobacterium (a sort of micro organism) and microalgae that give it this distinctive shade.
The pink water of the Laguna Rosa. Photograph: Tomas Wells / Pexels
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Las Médulas, Castilla y León
Near the border between Castilla y León and Galicia, you’ll discover Las Médulas, an historical Roman gold mine the place towering pink rocks peek out from beneath the verdant emerald inexperienced foliage. Surprisingly it’s one of many few locations on our record that’s really not a pure phenomenon, however a artifical one. To entry the gold within the mountains, the Romans used hydraulic energy, diverting water from a close-by river to carve out gullies and even explode them from the within. The result’s this scarred, however considerably fascinating panorama.
The Romans created this panorama 1000’s of years in the past. Photograph: Elena Martinez Chacon / Wikimedia Commons
Lanzarote’s Charco Verde, Canary Islands
If there’s wherever in Spain the place all the place could possibly be one other planet, then it’s Lanzarote. This small Canary Island is called ‘the Island of Volcanos’ is full of weird blackened landscapes, fossilised lava tubes and deep craters that really feel nearly as in case you’re strolling on the moon. However one unusual place stands out amongst all of the black for its vivid inexperienced hue – is the Charco Verde or Inexperienced Lagoon. Nearly fluorescent in color, It’s attributable to algae on the backside of the lake which contrasts with the color of the sky.
El Charco Verde has a luminous inexperienced hue. Photograph: Javier Balseiro / Pexels
Río Tinto, Andalusia
With its blood orange shade and its rugged surrounds of reddish rocks, the landscapes round Rio are as shut as many people will ever get to standing on Mars. The truth is NASA and the European Area Company even carried out a few of their coaching and experiments right here in preparation for his or her voyage to the pink planet. The world round Minas de Riotinto close to Huelva is among the most peculiar spots, an historical mining village constructed right here throughout Roman rule.
The Martian-like landscapes close to Huelva, Photograph: Paco Naranjo Jiménez /Wikimedia Commons
Cuenca’s Ciudad Encantada, Castilla-La Mancha
Set throughout the Serranía de Cuenca, you’ll discover the aptly-named Enchanted Metropolis, the place whimsical shapes have been carved from the limestone, modelled over thousands and thousands of years by waves, ice, wind and rain. Over 90 million years in the past, this space lay beneath the Tethys Sea and when it retreated these odd formations began appearing.
The Enchanted Metropolis close to Cuenca. Supply: Go to Cuenca
La Montaña de Sal, Catalonia
Rising 120 metres into the sky, round 100km northeast of Barcelona, sits this oddly-shaped mountain manufactured from salt coated in ridges, bubbles and unusual colored rock. The skin is otherworldly sufficient, however for an much more alien expertise, you may head deep into the mountain itself to the salt mines. Right here, delicate salt crystals develop up from the ground and cling to roof, identical to stalactites and stalagmites and the partitions are adorned with what seems like salty foam. It was in actual fact a working mine all the best way from 1929 to 1990.
You’ll be able to even discover contained in the Cardona Salt Mountain. Photograph: Cardona Turisme
Torcal de Antequera, Andalusia
Not removed from the town of Antequera, simply north of Málaga, sits one of the crucial uncommon landscapes in Andalusia, the place towering rocks are piled one on prime of one other, nearly like bizarrely-shaped stacks of pancakes. What makes it much more fascinating is that thousands and thousands of years in the past, this pure park was beneath the ocean and you’ll nonetheless see fossils of many ammonites imprinted into the rocks.
The pancake like rocks of Torcal de Antequera. Photograph: Dgalan / Wikimedia Commons
Cuevas del Drach, Mallorca
One other underground marvel are the Drach Caves, ‘Drach’ that means dragon within the Majorcan language. Deep beneath the floor of Mallorca, extending for 1200 metres, they’re a few of the few caves you may discover by boat. Row throughout the glassy waters of Lake Martel throughout the caves themselves and gape on the otherworldly formations that just about appear to glow in gold when lit.
Take a ship via the Drach Caves in Mallorca. Photograph: lapping / Pixabay