Abanilla

The Río Chícamo is the kind of river that changes how a dry landscape looks. In the Abanilla municipality, its water threads through pale gypsum slopes and sharply eroded ravines. Reeds and other river plants gather where water persists, making a narrow green corridor in country that can appear almost bare from a distance.

The protected fluvial reserve is valued for both its unusual geology and the habitats supported by water. Erosion has made gullies and badland forms; the river has cut through and deposited material across them. That meeting of processes is more interesting than any single viewpoint. The landscape is also fragile, and seasonal flow can change the safety of a route very quickly.