The relief of Spain is composed mainly of a central plateau surrounded by mountain ranges. The plateau is divided into northern and southern subplateaus by the Central System mountain range. Other important mountain ranges that surround the plateau include the Cantabrian Range, Iberian System, and Sierra Morena. Farther from the plateau are mountain ranges like the Pyrenees, Basque Mountains, and Betic Chain which is divided into the Penibetic and Subbetic Cordilleras. The major depressions in Spain are the Ebro Depression between several mountain ranges and coastal areas, and the Guadalquivir Depression between the Sierra Morena and Atlantic Ocean. Spain's highest peaks are Teide volcano in Tenerife, followed

2. SOME IMPORTANT CONCEPT
Plains are large areas of flat land with no hills or slopes.
Plateau is a plain at a high altitude.
Depressions are plains which are lower than the surrounding land.
Hill are small elevation in the ground. They have lower altitude than mountains.
Mountain is a big elevation in the ground.
Several mountains grouped together are called a mountain range.
A long line of mountain ranges is called a mountain chain.
Valleys are low areas between mountains. Rivers are often found in valleys.

3. Mountain
Valley
Hill
Plateau
Plain
Depresion

4. MOUNTAIN
S

5. The relief in Spain is composed of:
♦ The Central Plateau: It is a big plain in the Iberian Peninsula.
Central System (Sistema Central) divide the Plateaut
into two parts:
•The North Subplateau.
•The South Subplateau
Toledo Mountains (Montes de Toledo)
♦ The Mountains that go around the plateau are:
The Lion Mountains (Montes de León) with Teleno as
one of its highest peaks.
The Cantabrian Range (Cordillera Cantábrica) where
we find Picos de Europa and Torre Cerredo as one of
the highest peaks.
The Iberian System (Sistema Ibérico) – Moncayo is
one of its highest peaks.
Sierra Morena – Bañuelas and Despeñaperros.

8. ♦ The Mountains that are far from the plateau are:
The Galizian Massif (Mazizo Galaico) – Cabeza de Manzanera
is one of the highest peaks.
The Pyrenees, (Pirineos) that separate Spain from France and
where we can find important peaks like Aneto and Monte
Perdido.
The Basque Mountains (Montes Vascos) – Peña Gorbea
The Catalonian Range (Cordilleras Costeras Catalanas) where
we can find Turó de L`Home.
The Betic Chain (Cordilleras Béticas) are divided into:
● Cordillera Penibética – The highest peak is Mulhacén.
● Cordillera Subbética – The highest peak is Sagra.
♦ The most important depressions in the peninsula are:
The Ebro depression: located among the Pyrinees, The Iberian
System, The Catalonian Coast and the Mediterranean Sea.
The Guadalquivir depression: located among Sierra Morena,
The Betic Chain and the Atlantic Ocean.

10. THE HIGHEST PEAKS IN SPAIN
ARE:
1º.
TEIDE (Tenerife)
2º.
MULHACÉN (Andalucía)
3º.
ANETO (Aragón)
4º.
VELETA (Andalucía)
5º.
POSETS (Aragón)

12. RIVERS

13. Spain has 3 watersheds:
Cantabrian watershed
Atlanctic watershed
Mediterranean watershed

14. A WATERSHED is an area of land in
which water flows over on its way to the
sea.

15. CANTABRIAN WATERSHED
The rivers that flow into the Bay of Biscay are short as they start in
the mountains near the coast.
Their flow is regular and high due to the abundant rainfall. The
most important rivers from the Cantabrian Coast are:
Bidasoa, Nervión, Pas, Besaya, Deva, Sella, Nalón, Eo

16. MEDITERRANEAN WATERSHED
Most of the rivers that
carry water to the
Mediterranean Sea are
short and have limited
and irregular water flow,
except the Ebro.
The most important
rivers from the
Mediterranean Coast
are:
Ter, Llobregat and Ebro
Júcar, Segura and Mijares

17. ATLANTIC WATERSHED
The rivers are long and carry
high volumes of water that flow
into the Atlantic Ocean.
Guadalquivir, Tinto, Odiel,
Guadiana, Tajo, Duero, Elsa,
Pisuerga, Tormes, Miño,
Tambre, Ulla y Eume.
Galician
Rivers
Rivers that
cross the
Meseta
Andalusia
n Rivers
Short with high flow
due to abundant
rainfall
Long with high
but irregular flow
Usually long with
very low flow.

18. L AKE
S

19. LAKES AND LAGOONS
Spanish lakes are small in comparison to European lakes.
The biggest lake in Spain is Sanabria (Zamora)
The second biggest lake is Banyoles (Gerona)
The largest inland lagoon of shallow saltwater is Gallocanta (Zaragoza)
Ruidera Lagoon (Ciudad Real)
Albufera de Valencia (Valencia) is a freshwater lagoon on the coast of Spain.