Antequera
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Antequera

Antequera

Andalusian crossroads town between Málaga and Granada, with dolmens, an Alcazaba, and El Torcal nearby

Antequera is near where the main road from Málaga to Granada leaves the Sevilla road after you have come right up the mountains from Málaga. Its bus links with Málaga are excellent and it may serve as an alternative first or last night if you are using Málaga airport.

It is a very pleasant town, where people don't seem to have had their friendliness extinguished by over-exposure to speakers of English. The Alcazaba at the top of the town provides great views of mountains on one side and olive-covered hills on the other.

However it has two particular claims to fame. The first consists of three fine prehistoric dolmens barely outside the town itself — the Dolmen of Menga, the Dolmen de Viera, and the Tholos de El Romeral, all UNESCO World Heritage listed. The second merits a taxi up and walk down if you have no car. This is the Torcal de Antequera, a mountain top covered with huge and wonderfully shaped rock outcrops. There is a visitors' centre here now and some excellent routes marked by different coloured paint on the rocks. There is plenty of time to do the red and the yellow and walk down in daylight to the town, stopping for some ice cold fino on the way.

Guide

Getting There

Antequera is well connected by bus to Málaga (about 1 hour), Granada (about 1.5 hours), and Sevilla (about 2 hours). The bus station is close to the town centre. Antequera–Santa Ana high-speed rail station, on the AVE line between Málaga and Madrid, is 16 km from town and requires a taxi or bus connection; it is mainly useful if you are arriving from Madrid or Córdoba by high-speed train.

By road, Antequera sits at the junction of the A-45 (Málaga), A-92 (Granada/Sevilla), and is an easy drive from anywhere in Andalusia.

Guide

Things to Do

Antequera's two main claims are ancient and geological. The Dolmens — a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2016 — are among the most impressive prehistoric monuments in Europe, and they sit barely outside town; you can walk there from the centre. The Torcal de Antequera, a limestone plateau of extraordinary rock formations about 13 km south, is one of the most distinctive landscapes in Andalusia.

In town, the Alcazaba gives the best views — over the olive-covered hills in one direction and the mountains behind Málaga in the other. The old town around it is pleasant to walk through, with well-preserved baroque churches and a lively café culture that has not been swamped by tourism. Most visitors come on day trips from Málaga or Granada; staying a night gives you the evenings, which are when Antequera feels most itself.