Mountain peakSpain · ES
Mulhacén
At 3,479 m, Mulhacén is the highest point not only in Sierra Nevada but in all of peninsular Spain and the whole Iberian Peninsula — the rooftop of the country's south, and the highest peak in southern Europe outside the Alps. This is a true high mountain, yet on its broad southern flank it yields to boots rather than ropes: in clear summer conditions the normal route is a long, steady hike rather than a climb. From the summit on a fine day you can look across the Mediterranean to the coast and, on exceptionally clear mornings, all the way to the mountains of North Africa. The mountain is named for Muley Hacén (Abu'l-Hasan Ali), the penultimate Muslim king of Granada, who legend says was buried on the summit — and Arab geographers still call it Jabal Mawla el-Hassan. Today it sits within Sierra Nevada National and Natural Park, reached most easily from the white Alpujarra village of Capileira on its southern slope. Whether you summit in a single pushing day from a park shuttle bus stop or split the climb over two nights around the Refugio Poqueira, Mulhacén is the classic Alpine-style objective of southern Spain, with its neighbour Veleta and the jagged massif of the Alcazaba framing the panorama.