CENTRAL

1 What are the main characteristics of the Meseta?

2 What differences can you observe between the Central Sierra and the mountains of Toledo?

3 What is the highest peak of the landforms inside the Meseta? And of those bordering it? What is the difference in altitude between these two peaks?

Mountains of León

Location: Bordering the Meseta to the northwest.

Characteristics: A high mountain chain.

Major mountain ranges: Sierra de Segundera, with the highest peak being Teleno (2,188 m).

Cantabrian Mountains

Location: In the north of the Iberian Peninsula, separating the Meseta from the Cantabrian coast.

Characteristics: It is approximately 480 km long and is the westernmost mountain range in Europe.

Major mountain ranges: The highest peak is Torrecerredo (2,648 m), located in the Europa Peaks.

Iberian Cordillera

Location: Bordering the Meseta to the east, separating it from the Ebro valley.

Major mountain ranges: The Picos de Urbión, Sierra de Albarracín and Sierra del Moncayo, where the highest peak, Moncayo (2,313 m) is located.

Location: The South of the Iberian Peninsula, separating the Meseta from the Guadalquivir valley.

Major mountain ranges: Hornachuelos, Aracena and Sierra Madrona, where the highest peak, Bañuela (1,323 m) is located.

4 Make a chart for the landforms studied here.

Name of the mountain system ?

Location ?

Featured range(s) ?

Highest peak ?

Landforms outside the Meseta

Location: The northwestern corner of the Iberian Peninsula.

Characteristics: A relatively smooth relief, with rounded peaks and low elevation.

Major mountain ranges: Peña Trevinca (2,127 m) is the highest point of the massif.

The Basque mountains The Pyrenees

Location: In the north of the Iberian Peninsula, between the Cantabrian Mountains and the Pyrenees.

Characteristics: A non-linear mountain chain with an irregular relief.

Major mountain ranges: Aizkorri peak (1,528 m) stands out for its height.

Location: In the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, extending from the Bay of Biscay to Cape Creus. A natural border between Spain, Andorra and France.

Characteristics: Young mountains with a high elevation.

Major mountain ranges: The highest peak is Aneto (3,404 m).

The Catalan Coastal Range Baetic Cordillera

Location: Between the Pyrenees and the mouth of the Ebro River. It runs along the Catalan coast.

Characteristics: Low-lying mountains.

Major mountain ranges: The highest peak is Turo de l'Home (1,712 m).

Location: In the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula, running from the Strait of Gibraltar to Cape Nau.

Characteristics: Mountain system formed by two mountain ranges that run almost in parallel: the Penibaetic range and Sub-Baetic range.

• Penibaetic range: Closest to the coast and the highest. The highest peak of this system—and the Iberian Peninsula—is in the Sierra Nevada: Mulhacén (3,479 m).

• Sub-Baetic mountain range: In the interior, closer to the Sierra Morena and the southern edge of the Meseta.

1 What landforms are found outside the Meseta?

2 Working with a partner, gather clues to help identify the landforms that have been presented thus far. When you are done, take turns choosing a relief unit and telling your partner the clues one by one. If you guess the landform correctly with just one clue, you earn three points; if you need two clues, you win two points; if you need three or more clues, you earn one point.

3 What similarities can you identify between the Ebro and Guadalquivir valleys?

4 Have you ever visited any of the landforms in the interior of Spain? Give a brief presentation about your to trip your classmates; be sure to include photos!

To learn how to draw the physical map of Spain, watch the video available on anayaeducacion.es

Take note!

A plastic bag is used for 12 minutes on average. But it takes more than five decades to degrade. Have you encountered this kind of rubbish while out in nature?

Is the coast the same throughout all of Spain?

What must we consider when conducting business activities along the coasts of Spain?

Spain has approximately 5,970 km of coastline, split between the peninsula, the Balearic and Canary Islands, and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla. There are differences between the Atlantic coast and the Mediterranean coast.

Coastal group

Language Bank

Speaking. Ask your partner what they are going to see around Spain.

Writing. Write a text for tourists about the type of relief they are going to see when they visit the area.

Location Characteristics Major features

Cantabrian coast Extends from the mouth of the Bidasoa River to Cape Ortegal.

This coast is high, steep, rocky and straight.

The capes Matxitxaco, Ajo and Peñas. Bay of Biscay.

Galician Atlantic Extends from Cape Ortegal to the mouth of the Miño River.

Andalusian Atlantic Extends from the mouth of the Guadiana River to the Strait of Gibraltar.

The northern part of the Galician Atlantic coast is known as Rías Altas, , and the southern part, as Rías Baixas. This coast is broken up by the rias and is high and rocky.

Rias: Arousa, Vigo and Pontevedra. Cape Finisterre.

It is straight, low and sandy and has wide beaches. There are marshes and dunes.

Bay of Cádiz. Cape Trafalgar.

Southern Mediterranean Runs from the Strait of Gibraltar to the border between the communities of Murcia and Valencia.

It is a high, steep, rocky and straight coast.

Cape Gata and Cape Palos. Gulf of Almería.

Eastern Mediterranean Valencian coast: Extends from Vega Baja del Segura to the Ebro River delta.

Catalan coast: Extends from the Ebro River delta to the border with France.

It is a low and sandy coast, with long beaches, in general.

It is high, jagged, steep and rocky.

Cape Nau

Cape Creus. Gulf of Roses.

The relief of the Canary Islands

Location: These islands are located in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of North Africa.

Characteristics:

This is a mountainous archipelago of volcanic origin and, therefore, it has a particular landscape. The Teide volcano (3,718 m)—the highest peak in Spain—is on the island of Tenerife.

Coasts: In general, they are high, steep and slightly jagged, although there are beaches in the south of the islands. In the western islands, there are pebble beaches and in the eastern islands, sandy beaches.

The relief of the Balearic Islands

Location: This archipelago is located in the Mediterranean Sea, off the Valencian coast.

Characteristics:

They are mountainous in general and connected to the relief of the Iberian Peninsula. The relief of Majorca, Ibiza and Formentera is a continuation of the Penibaetic range, while that of Minorca correspond to the Catalan Coastal Range. The highest peak of the islands, Puig Major (1,445 m), is located in the Serra de la Tramuntana (Majorca).

Coasts: They are high and jagged and form coves, especially in the north of Majorca and Minorca. decry the state of our natural environments more and more frequently. Here are some examples of posts that reflect this problem. Can you tell which coast each photo is of?

What is the relief of Europe like?

Are there any major differences between the relief of Spain and Europe?

Europe

Location: Continent located in the Northern Hemisphere.

Area: It is the second smallest continent, after Oceania, in terms of area (10,530,751 km2). Together, Europe and Asia form the area or supercontinent known as Eurasia.

Borders: To the north, the Arctic Ocean; to the south, the Mediterranean Sea; to the east, the Ural Mountains, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus and the Black Sea; to the west, the Atlantic Ocean.

Interior relief

• Massifs and older mountains: Low-lying, rounded mountains located in the north and middle of the continent. Noteworthy examples include the Massif Central in France, the Scandes and the Urals, which act as a natural border with Asia.

• Young mountains: High altitude mountains located in the south of the continent. Noteworthy examples include the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Apennines, the Carpathians and the Caucasus, where the highest peak in Europe, Mount Elbrus (5,642 m), is located.

• Plains: Large flat tracts of land located in the middle of the continent. The Great European Plain is a noteworthy example.

Coastal relief

The coasts of Europe are quite jagged since there are many peninsulas—such as the Iberian Peninsula, Italy and the Balkans—, capes—such as North Cape and Finisterre— and gulfs—such as the Gulf of Genoa and the Bay of Biscay.

There are also many islands:

• In the Atlantic Ocean: Iceland, Great Britain, Ireland, Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands, etc.

• In the Mediterranean Sea: Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Malta, Crete, Cyprus, the Balearic Islands, etc.

Language Bank

Speaking. In small groups, organise a trip around Europe.

Writing. Write sentences to say where you want to go and why.

1 Write down three characteristics of the European continent.

2 Trace a map of Europe. Use the following legend to circle or highlight the map:

• Yellow: Atlantic Ocean islands

• Blue: Mediterranean Sea islands

• Green: Massifs and older mountains

• Orange: Young mountains

• Purple: Peninsulas

• Red: Four capes

• Pink: Four gulfs

3 What are the borders of Europe?

4 What separates Europe from Asia and Africa? Use the map to help you.

5 Rachel, Samuel and Adrián are a group of scientists interested in measuring the consequences of production and consumption in Europe’s mountainous areas. If they start their work in the Scandes, what route do you think they should take to the Baetic Cordillera? On a map, mark where they should set up camp in each mountain range in order.

Take note!

Europe’s ecological footprint is one of the world’s largest. If the rest of the continents lived like we do in Europe, we would need the resources from more than two planets like ours to support us.