Río de la Miel

The Rio de la Miel originates in the Sierra de Luna, east of the Bujeo Mountains, in the Los Alcornocales nature reserve and at 350 m above sea level. It is short in length, only 9km long, and passes through a leafy valley of cork trees, alders and bracken, the village of El Cobre and the city of , where it flows into the sea.

Many artists born in Algeciras have walked through these woods, admired the scenery, and drawn inspiration. In the 12th century, the Arab poet Ben Abi Ruh dedicated some beautiful verses to this spot: “Stop by the Río de la Miel and ask about a night I spent there until dawn…”.

The countryside is stunning, green, fresh, with scattered ruined mills, remains of ancient ways, medieval bridges and huge fresh water pools and waterfalls.

The river is the subject for one of the songs included in the Luzia album by Paco de Lucía. This album of "bulerías" pays homage to the area where he was born, and contains references to his childhood. It is not easy to know which section of the Río de la Miel inspired the famous bulerías: If it is near his quarter, the Bajadilla, where he would often look out to see the descending water; or where the river ran into the sea, at the docks; or the part near where he was born, upriver in the Sierra de Cobre, the origin of the old aqueduct that supplied water to the Fuente Nueva, right beside his childhood home.

Fauna and flora

Up-river, the "canutos" or mist forests, have a very wet microclimate. This helps to create the lush vegetation, with some plants which are endemic to the area - such as the laurisilva forests of the Tertiary Era. Plant species include many types of ferns and tree species which represent what is known as "Tertiary relict flora". The fauna is typical of the Mediterranean forest, especially deer, boar, deer, civettes and mongooses, among others.