Almeria is a Spanish province of the autonomous community of Andalusia; located in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula. It limits with the provinces of Granada to the west and northwest; and with Murcia to the north and northeast; as well as with the Mediterranean Sea to the east and south (part known as the Alboran Sea). The capital of the province is the city of Almería, located to the south of the province and in the center of the homonymous bay.

The Government and Administration of provincial interests is entrusted to the Provincial Delegation of Almeria.

The most marked feature of the Almeria natural landscape is that of its aridity characteristics of the Mediterranean spaces augmented in Almeria by its geographic positioning in the east and by the arrangement of the relief that prevents penetration of wet air masses of the Atlantic.

Alboran Island from the air.
The natural wealth of the territory is reflected in several protected natural spaces.

A National Park, the Sierra Nevada, shared with the province of Granada, where you can find wild goats and wild boar.

Three Natural Parks: the one of Cabo de Gata-Níjar, declared in 1987 and first Maritime-terrestrial of the country, is probably one of the last redoubts of virgin coast of the Mediterranean.

It has a multitude of endemic xerophilous plant species and until a few years ago was the sanctuary of the last monk seals in Europe.

Another is that of the Sierra de María-Los Vélez, which boasts large areas of Carrascal pine forests and populations of the sparse Moorish tortoise, and finally, again, Sierra Nevada, areas less than two thousand meters above sea level.

There are also five Natural Sites: Alborán, Tabernas Desert, Karst in Yesbas de Sorbas, Punta Entinas-Sabinar and Sierra Alhamilla.

Among them the most important are perhaps the first two natural sites: the Tabernas desert is, technically, the only desert on the European continent. It is an exceptional ecosystem, whose characteristic landscapes are used by the audiovisual industry since the early 60’s.

For its part, the nearby karst in Yesos de Sorbas is a complex of caves, canyons and other karst phenomena excavated by the river Waters in a gypsum deposit near the town of Sorbas.

Two Nature Reserves: Albufera de Adra and Punta Entinas-Sabinar.
Five Natural Monuments: Barrier Reef of Posidonia, Island of San Andrés de Carboneras, Island of Terreros and Isla Negra de Pulpí, Piedra Lobera and Sabina Albar de Chirivel. And a Peri-urban Park, that of Castala in Berja.

Two other outstanding natural spaces in the province are the giant olive tree of Agua Amarga, one of the oldest olive trees in the European continent; and the Geode in plaster of Pulpí, among the largest in the planet.

There are also several centers for the recovery, conservation and study of fauna and flora in the province. Some of them are:

• Rescue Park of the Sahara Fauna in Almería.
• Botanical Garden of Albardinar in Rodalquilar (Níjar).
• Umbrian Botanical Garden of the Virgin Mary
• Aquarium of Roquetas de Mar.