Almería is known for beaches and desert, but one of its most unusual places is a village built on gypsum. Sorbas stands on the edge of a pale cliff above the river Aguas, and under its hills there is one of the best-known cave systems in gypsum in Spain. It is the farthest village of our Hard 01 loop from Vera, and a good plan for a rest day.
What it is
Gypsum is a soft rock, and water dissolves it. In the hills of Sorbas, that has created over thousands of years a karst: caves, shafts, sinkholes and rocky gorges, in a dry landscape where you would not expect so much water underground. The area is protected as the Karst en Yesos de Sorbas natural area. The village itself is built on the cliff, with houses that stand on the edge of the rock.
The caves
The cave system is formed by many caves and passages. Two of them are visited with companies that run guided trips:
- Cueva del Agua. The longest, with around 8 km of passages according to the operators. The trips are for people who like adventure: they last three to four hours, with cold water, and you need to wear a wetsuit and suitable footwear, which the operators hire.
- Cueva del Tesoro. A shorter and easier guided visit, of about two hours.
Places are limited and the high season fills up: book in advance with an authorised company, and check the schedule and the price on its own website.
The village and the river
Walk the old streets on the cliff, and look at the traditional pottery of Sorbas, one of the crafts of the village. From the village, you can follow the river Aguas and the paths of the natural area on foot. Take water and a hat: there is almost no shade.
How to visit
- Plan half a day for the village, or a whole day if you book a cave.
- Sorbas is about 30 km from Vera, so it is easier by car than by bike on a rest day.
- If you ride the loop, the climb of the Sierra Cabrera comes first, so keep some energy for the second half.
Near our routes
Sorbas is the farthest point of our Hard 01 loop. See the whole guide to Vera and the Levante.
Photos of Sorbas via Wikimedia Commons: Baldomorejon (CC BY-SA 3.0 es), Gaianauta (CC BY-SA 3.0 es), Diego.Duis.6 (CC BY-SA 3.0) and Schumi4ever (CC BY-SA 3.0).