A cave mouth in Benaoján, a spring in Igualeja and a viewpoint in El Burgo share a legal status that most visitors have never heard of.
Which natural monuments does Malaga have? Five were added by Decreto 383/2011 of 30 December: Cueva del Gato at Benaoján, the Genal river source at Igualeja, the Fuente de los Cien Caños at Villanueva del Trabuco, Los Tajos del Alcázar at Alcaucín and the Río Turón basin viewpoint at El Burgo. The smallest of them covers 623 square metres.
The figure was created by Decreto 146/1999, which defines natural monuments as spaces or elements of nature made up of formations of notable singularity, rarity or beauty. The 5 signed together on 30 November 2011 share one list of 10 prohibitions, and the smallest, the Nacimiento del Río Genal at Igualeja, covers 623 square metres, about 0.06 hectares. The others are a cave mouth in Benaoján, a viewpoint in El Burgo and a second spring, and none of them charges anything.
What Andalusia means by a natural monument
The figure was created by Decreto 146/1999, which defines natural monuments as spaces or elements of nature made up of formations of notable singularity, rarity or beauty.
That wording explains why the five in question look so unlike a park. A natural monument does not delimit a territory to be managed. It draws an administrative fence around one thing: a spring, a rock face, the mouth of a cave.
The consequences are practical. There is no zoning, no public-use plan and no facilities of the kind listed for the parks, only a protection regime that Decreto 383/2011 refers back to Ley 2/1989 and to a set of management norms and directives.
Its stated aim for public use is to “guarantee the knowledge and enjoyment of the natural and cultural values… compatible with their conservation”.
Ten bans shared by all five
Decreto 383/2011, signed by the Junta de Andalucía, declares 10 activities incompatible across the five monuments, whatever their size or type:
- Changes of land use and mineral exploitation.
- Introduction of non-native species.
- Collection of samples.
- Earth movements and construction of buildings.
- Infrastructure and advertising hoardings.
- Camping and free vehicle circulation.
Two of the five then get a restriction written to their own name. At Cueva del Gato, “caving inside the cavity will require authorisation to be obtained”. At Los Tajos del Alcázar, both “climbing” and “free vehicle circulation and cross riding” are prohibited.
For the other three, only the general list applies. It is a tighter regime than a park’s on the small things and a looser one on the large, because there is nothing to zone.
The five, with area and type
| Natural monument | Municipality | Area | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cueva del Gato | Benaoján | 8,788 m² | Mixed |
| Genal river source | Igualeja | 623 m² | Geographic |
| Fuente de los Cien Caños | Villanueva del Trabuco | 82,536 m² | Geographic |
| Los Tajos del Alcázar | Alcaucín | 107,097 m² | Mixed |
| Río Turón basin viewpoint | El Burgo | 16,231 m² | Geographic |
Three of the five are water coming out of rock. The Fuente de los Cien Caños is described as a “limestone slope with countless springs draining the Sierra de San Jorge”, and Cueva del Gato as a “large cavern from which the Guadares or Gaduares river emerges with permanent, crystalline waters”.
The remaining two are shape and view: the El Fuerte rock face as a “singular geological formation of the limestone-dolomite massif”, and the El Burgo viewpoint as a “place of great scenic beauty at around 900 metres above sea level”.
Los Tajos del Alcázar is the only one of the five that also falls inside a natural park, appearing on the sheet for the Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama park.
Cueva del Gato carries two separate layers
The cave at Benaoján is regulated twice over, by two rules of different rank and date, and they are easy to confuse.
The decree governs what happens inside: caving requires authorisation. A later notice from the regional environment delegation in Malaga prohibits pedestrian access to the mouth of the cave, a restriction set out in Malaga’s natural pools.
One regulates a sport underground, the other the walk up to the entrance. The river that comes out is the Guadares, also written Gaduares, in the same comarca that organises the white villages route and the autumn of the Genal valley.
Six hundred and twenty-three square metres
The Genal river source at Igualeja is protected across 623 square metres, which is 0.0623 hectares. The decree calls it a “natural discharge of the Sierra Blanca aquifer formed by limestone-dolomite materials”.
Set beside the other protected areas of the province the contrast is of a different order: Los Alcornocales covers 173,619.52 hectares.
Even the largest of the five, Los Tajos del Alcázar, reaches only 107,097 square metres, a shade over 10 hectares. That is the scale the figure works at.
No provincial total is given here. The regional listing of natural monuments mixes Malaga entries with those of other provinces, so there is no reliable count to copy. Three earlier ones are covered separately: Buitreras Canyon, the Sierra del Camorro fault and the Artola dunes. Any of the five fits a walking day in hiking near Malaga or a full outing from the coast in day trips from Malaga.
Frequently asked questions about Malaga’s natural monuments
What is a natural monument in Andalusia?
A protected figure for spaces or elements of nature made up of formations of notable singularity, rarity or beauty, established by Decreto 146/1999. Unlike a natural park, it fences a single object rather than a territory, and it comes with no zoning or visitor facilities of its own.
Which five natural monuments did Malaga add in 2011?
Cueva del Gato at Benaoján, the Genal river source at Igualeja, the Fuente de los Cien Caños at Villanueva del Trabuco, Los Tajos del Alcázar at Alcaucín and the Río Turón basin viewpoint at El Burgo, all under Decreto 383/2011 of 30 December.
Can you camp or climb at these natural monuments?
Camping is banned at all five as one of the ten incompatible activities in the decree. Climbing is banned by name only at Los Tajos del Alcázar in Alcaucín, where cross riding and free vehicle circulation are also prohibited.
One decree, five objects and a protected area of 623 square metres: conservation measured by the plot, not the map.