Geography of the Valencian Community

The Valencian Community is an autonomous community of Spain located in the east of the Iberian Peninsula, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. With 23,255 km², it is the eighth region in Spain by area and represents 4.60% of the national area.

The Community, narrow and elongated, extends between the Cenia River (in Vinaroz) and Pilar de la Horadada, a little further south of the Segura River, with a land delimitation of 840 km and a coastline length of 518 km. In addition, the Mediterranean islands of Columbretes and Tabarca also belong to the Valencian Community. Its geographical position is 40º 47' at the northern end, 37º 51' at the southern end, 0º 31' E at the eastern end and 1º 32' W at western end.

Relief

The mountains occupy most of the Valencian Community, leaving only a narrow coastal strip for the plains that, furthermore, only widen in the extreme north (Vinaroz plain), in the Plana de Castellón, in the Huerta de Valencia and in the extreme south (Vega Baja del Segura). On the rest of the coast, the mountains are a short distance from the coastline.

From an overall view, the Valencian region is the contact zone and end of two large peninsular mountain ranges: the Iberian system in the north and the Betic system in the south. These two systems delimit, at the peninsular level, two large interior units: the Ebro Depression and the southern Subplateau; The latter enters the autonomous territory causing the so-called Requena-Utiel plateau. The contact between the Iberian and Baetic systems occurs south of the Júcar River, in the so-called South-Valencian Fault.

Iberian Sector

The Iberian system extends its mountainous foothills towards the Mediterranean in the northern sector of the Valencian Community. The system is interfered with and dislocated by three other terrain features: the Catalan Coastal Mountain Ranges, which affects it at the northernmost end; the depression of the Gulf of Valencia, to the south; and the Béticas mountain ranges, to the southwest. These interferences show mountain ranges very affected by fractures parallel to the coast, which means that the typically Iberian orientation (northwest-southeast) is clear only in isolated cases (espadán and Calderona mountain ranges). The last ends of the mountain ranges of the Iberian system end in the Valencian town of Yatova and Dos Aguas with the Martes and del Ave mountain ranges at 1086 and 978 m s. n. m. The relief of this sector is not strictly the result of alpine folding, but of distension efforts, coupled with the sinking of the Balearic Trench and the formation of the Gulf of Valencia, which opened a series of valleys, basins and corridors.

Central Valencian depression and surrounding mountains

The Valencian depression, located immediately south of the Iberian sector, is the largest coastal plain in the entire Spanish Mediterranean basin (Valencian coastal plain). The metropolitan area of Valencia is concentrated here, the largest human agglomeration in the region and the third in Spain (after Madrid and Barcelona).

The central Valencian depression

The Valencian depression is located in the center of the Valencian Community, limited by the Sierra Calderona to the north, the mountains of the Serranía del Turia to the northwest, the Sierra de Las Cabrillas to the west, the Caroig massif to the southwest and the Mondúver to the south.

Its origin must be sought, first, in the process of sinking of the Gulf of Valencia that began about 6 million years ago and, later, in the long process of contributions of land produced by rivers such as the Palancia, the Turia and the Júcar., and the Carraixet or Chiva ravines; This process was helped by a sea that is not very erosive and, in recent times, by the action of man, who has conquered the marshes by means of landfills.

Not all of the depression is a perfect plain, since the areas closest to the coast, with extremely flat shapes, connect with extensive inland foothills (Pla de Quart de Poblet, Campo de Liria, etc.). It should also be said that the plain is dotted with small hills that break the unity, such as those of Puig, Sueca, Villamarchante or the Sierra Perenchisa.

The most typical and important landscapes in this relief unit are those of the Huerta de Valencia and those of the Albufera.

Accidents in the middle course of the Turia

Before reaching the Huerta de Valencia, the Turia river crosses and forms more rugged orographic areas: from its source in the Sierra de Albarracín it crosses the province of Teruel until it enters the Rincón de Ademuz and the region of Los Serranos.

The Turia mountain range, located in the Los Serranos region, is a geographical unit limited by the Iberian-oriented anticlinal mountains (NW-SE) of Javalambre to the north and Sierra del Negrete to the south. Among these is the Turia River basin, which is nestled between spectacular gorges with walls up to 200 meters high, such as those of Santa Cruz de Moya, Puente Alta in Calles and Chulilla.

The unit is characterized by mountain systems such as the Sierras del Remedio, Talaya, Santa María, Sierra de los Bosques, etc. There are also calcareous wheels such as those from Alpuente, Aras de los Olmos, etc.

The Turia has built small plains such as those of Benagéber, Domeño, Tuéjar, Chelva and Loriguilla, with keuper type geology, very favorable terrain for the construction of reservoirs that supply the metropolitan area of Valencia.

To the northwest is Rincón de Ademuz, a Valencian exclave surrounded by Castilla-La Mancha and Aragon. It is a region crossed from north to south by the Turia which, here, opens a large valley that is part of the great trench of Teruel. This valley is flanked by the Javalambre mountain range (to the east), which extends some mountain ranges towards the Valencian Community such as the Tortajada mountain range and some peaks such as Cerro Calderón (1,839 m), which is the highest point in the Community. To the west it is closed by the last southern foothills of the Montes Universales, with peaks such as the Cross of the Three Kingdoms (1,552m).

The Utiel-Requena plateau

Immediately to the south of the Sierra del Negrete extends the Utiel-Requena plateau, La plana de Utiel. This area is the continuation in the province of Valencia of the Central Plateau, separated from it by the erosive action of the Cabriel River.

This geographical unit is limited by the Sierras de Utiel and Juan Navarro to the north, the Sierra del Tejo to the northeast, Malacara to the east, Martés to the southeast, Rubial to the southwest, Bicuerca and the Sierra de Mira to the west, and the Cabriel River Valley to the south.

The Utiel-Requena plateau is a relatively flat platform, tilted from NW (900 m altitude in Camporrobles) to SE (600 m in Campo Arcís) and with an average height of 750 meters. It is drained by two rivers: the Magro and the Cabriel.

Caroig Massif, Sierra de Corbera and Mondúver

The Caroig massif, the Serra Grossa, the Corbera mountain range and the Mondúver mountain range close the central Valencian depression to the south.

To the south of these formations are the foothills of the Betic system.

Betic sector

Climate

The climate of the Valencian Community is Mediterranean. Most of the region has a typical Mediterranean climate, although the center and south of the province of Alicante have a dry Mediterranean climate (with very little rainfall during most of the year) and in some inland areas of the province of Valencia and Castellón there is a continentalized Mediterranean climate.

The softening effect of the Mediterranean Sea extends to the entire regional territory, since the entire Community (except Rincón de Ademuz) is located less than 100 km from the coast.

Climatic factors

Despite this, other determining factors of the climatic nuances of the region must be noted.

• The position of the Valencian Community regarding the peninsula, in the eastern end. In the Iberian peninsula the west winds predominate, which has a direct impact on the amount of precipitation received which, due to its average latitude, should correspond with more abundant rains. The peninsular reliefs (Cordillera Cantábrica, Meseta, Sistema Central y el Ibérico) make it difficult to pass the debris of Atlantic origin.

• The latitudes between which is the Valencian Community, between the 37o 51' (S) and the 40o 47' (N). Although the difference in the average temperatures of the two furthest coastal municipalities is only 2 °C (16 °C in Vinaroz and 18 °C in Orihuela), this small difference is sufficient to explain other differences in fields such as agriculture.

• The mountainous relief so rough and full of contrasts (literal plains, elevated inner mountains, holes, valleys, highlands, etc.) is a determining factor. The disposition of the coastal and prelitoral mountains of the Maestrazgo (SO-NE) makes it difficult to penetrate the maritime influence. The Aitana mountain range (1,559 m) acts as a large wall that causes a great asymmetry between the faces to barlovento (south of the province of Valencia: Albaida Valley, Safor, etc.) and those of sotavento (central part of the province of Alicante), with great differences in precipitation (higher in the north or windfall) and temperature (higher in the south or sotavento). The altitude also has a direct effect on temperatures, with an average gradient of 0.55 °C per 100 m.

Temperatures

Temperatures show a clear contrast between the inland highlands and the coast, especially in winter. In the month of January, the averages are around 10-11 °C on the coast and 3-4 °C in the interior. During the summer months, the average temperatures do not show as many contrasts, although the daily thermal differences (between day and night) are more pronounced in the interior.

The greatest differences in average temperatures during the warm months occur between the interior of the province of Castellón (in Morella they do not exceed 20 °C on average in the month of July) and the southern end of the province of Alicante (in Orihuela and Elche they exceed 26 °C). On the coast, sea breezes make the harsh summer temperatures more bearable.

Precipitation

Precipitation is, on average, between 700 and 900 mm annually. But the two elements that characterize rainfall in the Valencian Community are irregularity and regional contrasts (distinguishing between arid areas with 250 mm per year and rainy areas with more than 1000 mm per year). In general, the greatest rainfall is concentrated during autumn and, to a lesser extent, in spring. The irregular character usually results in a concentration of rain on a few days of the year, often causing cold drops and floods in autumn, as occurred in the Great Valencia Flood of 1957, in the [Alzira] cold drop of 1982 or in the overflowing of the Girona River and the flooding of Calpe in October 2007.

Hydrography

Vegetation