The Best Show Caves in Spain

Cave paintings

Two Spanish caves here hold prehistoric paintings. Cueva de la Pileta at Benaoján has no electric lighting. Small groups carry lanterns or flashlights along about 500 metres of passages with a guide who speaks Spanish and English, and a bat colony lives inside. Tours are booked by phone. At Cueva de Nerja the paintings are in a closed section, and visitors walk the large chambers alone in timed slots with an audio guide on their phones.

Eccentrics

Eccentrics, also called helictites, are thin formations that grow sideways and in curls instead of hanging straight down. Cueva El Soplao at Celis is a former zinc and lead mine where they grow in all directions, and a mining train carries groups inside. Cueva de Pozalagua at Ranero, discovered by a blast in 1957, is known for them too. Cueva de Valporquero at Vegacervera has helictites among its stalactites and stalagmites.

Cold and warm caves

Temperatures differ widely between Spanish caves. Cueva de Valporquero is around 7°C, with many stairs, wet floors and an underground river that runs in spring. Cuevas del Águila at Ramacastañas stays at 17°C and is humid, and Cueva de la Pileta is about 15°C.

Rules

Tours are guided and mostly in Spanish. Photography is banned at Gruta de las Maravillas, which lies under the town of Aracena, and at Cueva El Soplao; Cuevas del Águila allows no flash or video. Valporquero and Pozalagua both end with the lights switched off, at Pozalagua so that the group can hear the water drip.