Sunny Walkers 02521: Torcal and Canuto de la Utrera y Baños de la Hedionda y Rio Manilva

The Sierra de la Utrera, also known as Canchos de la Utrera or El Castillón, is the southernmost karst complex in Europe. The massif is crossed by three valleys embedded in and parallel to the coast, called canutos. These vertical-walled canutes constitute the nesting area for numerous protected birds, including Bonelli's eagle and Egyptian vulture.
This karst is flanked to the east by the Albarrán stream or Manilva river and to the south by the Canuto de la Utrera.

The Sierra de la Utrera also has an important paleontological heritage, with an important fossil record that ranges from the Jurassic to the Pliocene. It has been an important step for the man of these lands, practically since the beginning of Prehistory. It has numerous caves, among which we can highlight that of the Grand Duke, habitat of the Neolithic man.
Nearby are the "Sulfurous Baths of La Hedionda", initially Roman in its capture and adaptation to the use of the source and which is still used today. They say that in the year 61 BC, the Roman troops would find themselves camped in that area ready to confront those of Pompey and, finding themselves infected with scabies, would find relief by bathing there; Although, according to others, Julius Caesar himself cured of a herpetic infection and ordered the construction of the baths that are preserved today.
Later the Arabs retouched its structure and expanded its walls and pipes, brought to light in the last archaeological intervention in the early 90's. The set of baths is completed with works from the 17th to the late 20th, still partly preserved.

A legend that brings together the typical magical-belief elements in such cases, tells that the demon that lived in this water breathed his last when he was expelled by Santiago, which gave the water its smell

Nearby is the bridge-aqueduct of Los Baños, built in the 16th century and restored in the 18th. It is related to the irrigation ditch and the passage of people between both banks.