Sierra Bermeja y los Pinsapos

About this place

Sierra Bermeja is the mountain range that dominates Estepona's municipality to the north. It is home to the pinsapo (Abies pinsapo), a botanical relic from the Tertiary period that survived the climatic shifts of the Quaternary Era. It is the only native fir tree in all of Andalusia, and outside this range it exists only in the Moroccan Rif. The Paseo de los Pinsapos allows you to walk deep into the forest in the late afternoon, when the light filtering through the trees creates an atmosphere that no other route in the area can match. The range also carries literary weight: the anonymous ballad 'Río Verde, Río Verde' was born from the battles fought in that valley between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, during the Reconquest. The Refugio de Los Reales, high on the mountain, is the reference point for those wanting to combine the walk with views over the coast and the Strait. For visitors looking for something beyond the beach, Sierra Bermeja is Estepona's most authentic counterproposal.