Spain and Portugal for Visitors

Posted by : John Ross on Jul 09, 2008 - 09:09 AM Art

Seventeen caves in the north of Spain and their prehistoric drawings join Altamira as a World Heritage protected site. The site is now called the "Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain." From the visitor's point of view, the main advantage of the added caves is that most of them can be visited - Altamira itself cannot. The 17 new caves are in the Basque Country (3), Asturias (5) and especially Cantabria (9), where eight of the caves are open to the public, in limited numbers.

The jewel in the crown of Spanish cave art, Altamira, inscribed as a World Heritage site in 1985, should still be the starting point for any Cantabrian cave art exploration. Its "neocave," a life-size reproduction of the cave and its drawings, is an acceptable subsititute. The original cave is closed to the public (to all intents and purposes at least - the last I heard, the waiting list was three years long) to protect it from the damage caused by the presence of people, whose breath alone is harmful to the paintings. In the same way, most of the eight new caves which are not yet open to the public are being studied to determine just how much access should be allowed, and the numbers of visitors to the other caves are strictly limited. So plan ahead.

After Altamira, Monte Castillo in Puente Viesgo in Cantabria might be the next most prolific subsite, with its four caves - Las Moneda and El Castillo, which can be visited, and Las Chimeneas and La Pasiega, which cannot. Tito Bustillo Cave in Ribadesella, Asturias, has a 700-m long gallery said to show art of a quality and relevance similar to Altamira. At La Peña, Candamo, the cave paintings date from 30,000 years ago, and are the most westerly in Europe. And many of these caves, such as the non-visitable Covaciella near Cabrales, take you to some of the loveliest countryside in the north of Spain.

None of the three caves in the Basque Country is open to the public, but three of the five in Asturias are. And only La Garna in Cantabria is currently not open, leaving six which are.

These are the caves:

In Cantabria:

Altamira (Museo Nacional de Altamira)
Monte Del Castillo (four caves)
Chufin
Hornos de la Peña
El Pendo
Covalanas
La Garna

Asturias:

Tito Bustillo
El Pindal
Llonín
La Covaciella
La Peña

Basque Country:

Santimamiñe
Ekain
Altxerri

More information:
The UNESCO World Heritage listing for the Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain
Caves of Cantabria website
Museo de Altamira