Spain Cave with prehistoric art World Heritage
Mallata
12 °C inside, all year.
Pedro José Ponce Asensio · CC BY 4.0
The descent
The entrance, at 817 m.
The real relief above Mallata, measured on the Copernicus model every 30 m, and the cave going down at the same vertical scale.
The depth is the one published by those who explored it; the shape of the galleries is a sketch, not a survey. No depth has been published for this cave yet.
817m
Entrance altitude
from the 30 m relief model
12°C
Inside, all year
the yearly average outside, at the entrance
179m
Rock above
the highest point within 1.5 km
Inside and outside
12 °C inside, all year.
Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 12 °C here, in January and in August. In July the afternoon reaches 30 °C at the entrance, 18 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket. The best months to escape the heat are from June to August. The wettest months are from April to May: water rises fast underground, so never go in without a guide after heavy rain.
- 8°-2°Jan
- 9°-2°Feb
- 13°1°Mar
- 17°4°Apr
- 22°8°May
- 27°13°Jun
- 30°15°Jul
- 30°15°Aug
- 24°12°Sep
- 19°7°Oct
- 12°2°Nov
- 8°-1°Dec
Outside: afternoon and night averages for 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the entrance. Inside: the yearly average, which deep parts of a cave keep. Near the entrance it follows the weather a little.
Cultural property in Colungo, Spain
Mallata is a cave with prehistoric art in Spain. The entrance is at 817 m. It has an underground river. It is closed to the public to protect it. It is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Getting there.
- No public accessProtected for science or for its art. Look for a replica or a visitor centre nearby.
- Bárcabonearest town · 4.2 km in a straight line
- Mirador de Mallatanearest viewpoint · 0.2 km from the entrance
- Lleida-Alguaire Airport (ILD)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 68 km in a straight lineCar hire at LDE airport (Tarbes/Lourdes/Pyrénées)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
Guided tours, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The water
The Rio Vero runs highest from March to May and in November.
The Rio Vero carries about 1.3 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from March to May and in November. It is lowest from July to August.
- 1.3 m³/sJan
- 1.2 m³/sFeb
- 1.6 m³/sMar
- 2.0 m³/sApr
- 1.8 m³/sMay
- 1.2 m³/sJun
- 0.8 m³/sJul
- 0.6 m³/sAug
- 0.8 m³/sSep
- 1.3 m³/sOct
- 1.6 m³/sNov
- 1.2 m³/sDec
From about 0.59 m³/s in the lowest month to 2.0 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 102 km².
Estimate: long-term flow from the HydroATLAS model (WaterGAP, 1971–2000) shaped by the monthly rain, snow and temperature of the area (NASA POWER). Dams change it. Not a forecast.
From above.
The ground above the cave, with the relief shaded, the line of the section and what people have mapped around the entrance.
N
1.5 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6.0 × 6.0 km, north up. The line is the section above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the entrance.
- 7other cave entrances within 3 kmCueva de Muriecho, Portal de la Cunarda, Cuevas de Barfaluy and 4 more
- 2springs within 2 kmFuente Fuendiós
- 7viewpoints within 3 kmMirador de Mallata, Mirador del Rio Vero, Rio Vero and 4 more
- 2marked hiking routes within 3 kmAlmazorre - Bárcabo - Lecina - Almazorre, Lecina - Betorz/Lecina - Fuente de Lecina
- 6car parks within 2 km
- 12information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
- 3campsites within 8 kmCamping Alquézar, Camping Rio Vero
- 20hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmVilla de Alquézar, Hotel Castillo, Apartamentos Rurales San Gregorio and 17 more
- sinkholes within 3 km
- caving clubs and spots within 15 km
- climbing crags within 3 km
- named waterfalls within 4 km
- bus stops within 2 km
- restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the entrance. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Bárcabo4.2 km in a straight line
- Alquézar4.6 km in a straight line
- Colungo5.4 km in a straight line
- Adahuesca8.3 km in a straight line
- Naval9.8 km in a straight line
- Salas Altas11 km in a straight line
- Bierge11 km in a straight line
- Salas Bajas13 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Mallata.
The river at the entrance, the waterfalls, the lakes, the mountains and volcanoes above, the canyons, beaches and islands nearby — from our other atlases.
Peakyas1 mountains within 10 kmFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Month by month
The weather outside, at the entrance.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon | 8 | 9 | 13 | 17 | 22 | 27 | 30 | 30 | 24 | 19 | 12 | 8 |
| Afternoon | 8 | 9 | 13 | 17 | 22 | 27 | 30 | 30 | 24 | 19 | 12 | 8 |
| Night | -2 | -2 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 7 | 2 | -1 |
| Rain (mm) | 36 | 28 | 43 | 56 | 52 | 36 | 24 | 24 | 39 | 48 | 47 | 29 |
| Rainy days | 8 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 8 |
| Sun hours/day | 4.5 | 5.5 | 6.5 | 6.8 | 7.8 | 9.4 | 10.3 | 9.4 | 8.0 | 6.1 | 4.8 | 4.5 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 7 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Afternoon | Afternoon | Night | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 8 | 8 | -2 | 36 | 4.5 |
| Feb | 9 | 9 | -2 | 28 | 5.5 |
| Mar | 13 | 13 | 1 | 43 | 6.5 |
| Apr | 17 | 17 | 4 | 56 | 6.8 |
| May | 22 | 22 | 8 | 52 | 7.8 |
| Jun | 27 | 27 | 13 | 36 | 9.4 |
| Jul | 30 | 30 | 15 | 24 | 10.3 |
| Aug | 30 | 30 | 15 | 24 | 9.4 |
| Sep | 24 | 24 | 12 | 39 | 8.0 |
| Oct | 19 | 19 | 7 | 48 | 6.1 |
| Nov | 12 | 12 | 2 | 47 | 4.8 |
| Dec | 8 | 8 | -1 | 29 | 4.5 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (817 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
Photographs
Inside and around.
Recent years
Wet years, dry years.
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 227% | 15% | 168% | 161% | 158% | 204% | 68% | 65% | 73% | 107% | 117% | 250% |
| 2021 | 171% | 92% | 12% | 84% | 48% | 167% | 91% | 77% | 135% | 93% | 142% | 105% |
| 2022 | 32% | 30% | 139% | 101% | 44% | 83% | 110% | 149% | 111% | 101% | 97% | 181% |
| 2023 | 118% | 103% | 21% | 20% | 69% | 239% | 83% | 79% | 119% | 90% | 81% | 74% |
| 2024 | 93% | 196% | 224% | 74% | 107% | 139% | 134% | 156% | 325% | 240% | 54% | 35% |
| 2025 | 87% | 77% | 281% | 117% | 106% | 100% | 101% | 191% | 136% | 70% | 117% | 140% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Caves nearby.
Mallata
Spain
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 817 mEntrance altitude
- 12 °CInside, all year
Forau del Cocho
Spain · 28 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 988 mEntrance altitude
- 11 °CInside, all year
Grotto of Casteret
Spain · 53 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 2,606 mEntrance altitude
- 0 °CInside, all year
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length, visitors | Wikidata (Q43148120) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The relief above, the entrance altitude, the section and the 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| River flow and basin | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Entrances, springs, sinkholes, opening hours and what is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Rivers, waterfalls, lakes, mountains, canyons, beaches and islands nearby | Coastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
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