Itinerary
This way goes around the northern part of the Pedroso Mountains, covered in Mediterranean vegetation formed by holm and kermes oaks, evergreen shrubs (type:Phillyrea latifolia) broom and wild olive trees, and then goes down a vast olive trees area up to Villanueva de Algaidas, where you can visit a cave church, carved in sandstone, next to a Franciscan convent.
Summary
The Stage 14 unites two pueblos (Villanueva de Tapia and Villanueva de Algaidas) in a straight line east- west which is interrupted in the middle by a large bend to the south.
This is solved later by taking a long way by the stream Arroyo de Bebedero. The start is at higher altitudes than the final 150 metres, and you must add almost 900 metres, so the cumulative altitude is significant even if it does not pose a serious obstacle.
At the beginning you skirt around the Sierra of el Pedroso, passing very close on your left and to the south. Then there is a long journey through hills of olive groves, reaching the highest point of the Stage before linking with the road MA-5100.
From there it’s down to the bottom of the Valley to follow the downward course of the Arroyo del Bebedero, passing through the hamlet of Albaicin, and retrieving the path to the west that places the traveller on a hillock from where you can see Villanueva de Algaidas and an Atalaya tower separated by a ravine that you will visit in the next Stage.
The best
The Sierra of el Pedroso shows in satellite photos as an island of much defined boundaries, a high promontory of 1,023 metres of elevation. In a sea of olive trees, the karstic massif occupied by a dense Mediterranean scrub with Holm oaks seems to want to re-conquer the outskirts ahead with grand old oaks proportions and areas of dehesas between crops.
The Arroyo de Bebedero is another type of island, a linear one, which maintains rich vegetation with its clean waters. In the valley, in the area of Rondán, there is a good tree-lined, surface still standing because of growing on extremely steep slopes to the east and west.
This stream is very important to the Great Path of Málaga because it will also be a hero of the beginning and the end of stage 15, under the shared name of Arroyo or Río de Burriana, (depending who you ask).
