The Hoya of Antequera (also Antequera Depression or, in Spanish, ''Depresión de Antequera'', ''Hoya de Antequera'' or ''Vega de Antequera'') is a

sedimentary basin Sedimentary basins are region-scale depressions of the Earth's crust where subsidence has occurred and a thick sequence of sediments have accumulated to form a large three-dimensional body of sedimentary rock. They form when long-term subsidence ...

located in the northern part of the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. It takes its name from the city of

Antequera Antequera () is a city and municipality in the Comarca de Antequera, province of Málaga, part of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia. It is known as "the heart of Andalusia" (''el corazón de Andalucía'') because of its central locat ...

, located within the depression. It is located in the Baetic Cordillera, with the Cordilleras Subbéticas to its north and the Cordillera Penibética to its south. It is one of the series of valleys forming the Surco Intrabético. In the east a narrow

pass Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to: Places *Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland * Pass, Poland, a village in Poland *Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see List of straits *Mountain pass, a lower place in a mountai ...

connects it to the

Depression of Granada The Granada Basin, Depression of Granada or Granada Depression ( es, Depresión de Granada) is a totally enclosed valley in Andalusia, Spain. The river Genil runs through the valley upon exiting from the Sierra Nevada until it passes through the ...

. In the west, the Serranía de Ronda separates it from the

Depression of Ronda The Ronda Depression ( es, Depresión de Ronda; also ''Hoya de Ronda'' and occasionally ''Vega de Ronda'') is a sedimentary basin in the form of a plateau located within the Cordillera Penibética, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain ...

. The term ''hoya'' literally means "trough" and refers to the boxed in character of the area. The plain composes most of the

Comarca de Antequera The Comarca de Antequera is a comarca (currently with no administrative role) in Andalusia, southern Spain. It is located in the area of the Surco Intrabético range, on the boundary with the province of Córdoba. The landscape is largely plain ( ...

. Running through the Hoya of Antequera is the upper portion of the

Guadalhorce The Guadalhorce (from Arabic وَادِي (''wādī''), "river" + Latin ''forfex'', "scissors") is the principal river of the Province of Málaga in southern Spain. Its source is in the Sierra de Alhama in the Province of Granada, from which ...

, which flows into the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

near the city of

. The plain consists of rolling fields dotted with hills. Water is abundant. Rainfall, unable to form streams on this uneven terrain, accumulates in the center, forming

lagoons A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an ...

such as the

Campillos Lagoons Campillos is a municipality and town in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is located northwest of the province in the comarca of Guadalteba and within the judicial district of Antequera. T ...

Archidona Lagoons Archidona is a town and municipality in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is the center of the comarca of Nororiental de Málaga and the head of the judicial district that bears its name ...

, Ratosa Laguna, and the largest, the

Fuente de Piedra Lagoon Fuente de Piedra Lagoon is a wetland located in the Málaga, Málaga province of Spain. It is used by the greater flamingo for its annual reproduction cycle, constituting the largest colony on the Iberian Peninsula of this beautiful and delicate b ...

, birthplace to thousands of flamingoes every year. Because of its central location in

, it is a principal node for that region's land routes.

References

* Victoriano Guarnido Olmedo:
La Depresión de Antequera
'. Cuadernos geográficos de la

Universidad de Granada The University of Granada ( es, Universidad de Granada, UGR) is a public university located in the city of Granada, Spain, and founded in 1531 by Emperor Charles V. With more than 60,000 students, it is the fourth largest university in Spain. Ap ...

, Nº 7, 1977, pp. 39–70. {{coord, 37, 06, 25, N, 4, 46, 16, W, region:ES_type:airport_source:kolossus-eswiki, display=title Valleys of Spain Landforms of Andalusia Geography of the Province of Málaga