Spain – Mulhacén (3,479 m)
⛰️ Altitude: 3,479 m
📍 Coordinates: 37°03′12″N 3°18′41″W
🗺️ Route: Hoya del Portillo – Mulhacén Summit – Return
🚗 Transport to region: 917 km total
• 292 km drive Torre → Lisbon Airport
• 470 km flight Lisbon → Málaga
• 155 km drive Málaga Airport → Hoya del Portillo (Sierra Nevada)
💤 Accommodation: Slept at Málaga Airport both before and after the climb
🌦️ Conditions: Mostly clear with light rain near summit; violent storm after descent
🚙 The road south
After the calm stop at Torre in Portugal, I drove back to Lisbon Airport and caught a short flight to Málaga. I arrived late and, with no time to waste, decided to sleep inside the airport again, my usual way of saving time and staying mobile.
At sunrise, I picked up a rental car from Del Paso Car Rental and began the 155-kilometre drive toward the Sierra Nevada. The roads narrowed as I climbed higher into the mountains, twisting through small white villages and endless olive groves. Somewhere past Capileira, I took a wrong turn and nearly drove off the road while searching for parking at Hoya del Portillo, a real reminder that exhaustion and Spanish mountain roads don’t mix well.
Eventually, I found the right track and reached the trailhead just before 11:00, under clear skies and warm air.
🥾 The climb
I started the ascent at 11:10, following the classic route from Hoya del Portillo. The trail begins through pine forest and quickly opens into wide, dry terrain typical of southern Spain’s high Sierra. The mountain feels barren but beautiful, silent ridges, no snow, and endless golden slopes.
As I climbed, the air cooled, and clouds began to form. By the time I reached the upper sections, light rain started to fall, soft and refreshing. At exactly 14:00, I reached the summit of Mulhacén, the highest peak in mainland Spain, in near total calm.
For a few quiet minutes, I stood completely alone above the Sierra Nevada, the Mediterranean haze visible far to the south.
⛈️ The storm
Shortly after I began descending, the weather turned. Distant thunder grew louder, and by the time I reached the lower slopes, a huge storm swept over the range, heavy rain, wind, and flashes of lightning striking the peaks I’d just left behind.
By then, I was already back at the car, soaked but safe. I sat there for a while, watching the storm explode across the mountains, feeling lucky to have timed it just right.
That evening, I returned the car in Málaga and spent another night inside the airport, preparing for the next early flight.
💭 Reflection
Mulhacén was a reminder that mountains in the south can be just as unpredictable as those in the Alps. One moment calm and dry, the next full of lightning and chaos.
It was also the first time during the expedition that I truly felt the rhythm of continuous travel, airports, car rentals, and summits blending into a single, moving line across the continent.
📅 Date: 9 August 2025
