BAETIC CORDILLERA

Spanish Sistema Penibtico, mountain system comprising the Andalusian mountains of southern Spain, of which the northern range runs about 360 miles (580 km) from Cape Trafalgar to Cape Nao. The central and southern ranges, the Baetic proper, extend a shorter distance from Estepona to Cape Gata. Separating the two systems is a complex series of structures, traceable in longitudinal corridors and high basins for 180 miles (290 km) between Antequera and Baza and again between Lorca and the Sangonera (Guadalentn) River valley. To the south, in the Baetic proper, the interior mountains include the Sierra Nevada, with the highest peak of the Iberian Peninsula, Mount Mulhacn, 11,421 feet (3,481 m).