Huerta de Juan Santos

In a dreamlike setting located in the "deepest" part of the Despeñaperros Natural Park, in the municipality of Santa Elena, we can find Huerta de Juan Santos. The dual carriageway of Andalusia, on which thousands of vehicles travel every day, is only two kilometres away, but it seems like time has stopped here to create a fairy-tale place.

Surrounded by three ravines and taking advantage of the location of the meeting of two streams (Vivero and Juan Santos), a succession of terraces, stone terraces and water channels spread out, which, blending with a riverside forest and Mediterranean-style shrubs, create a magical atmosphere that tells the story of the happy encounter between man and nature. What was once a beautiful well-stocked garden now exudes a dreamlike silence.

As you stroll along Gitana stream, along what may have been the old Paso de la Losa and up to Castro Ferraz Castle, turn right and, descending, leave a pine forest behind to see the ruins of a farmhouse and a knoll rising above a succession of stone rows that stretch out the landscape as much as possible. Next to the stones there are a set of water devices and a beautiful Moorish oven, today in poor condition despite the attempts to restore it, which show one of those places in the Sierra Morena where the mark of man must be enjoyed with great calm and respect.