Torcas, shafts and caves of the Serranía de Cuenca

Ground that collapses

When water dissolves limestone underneath, the roof gives way and a torca, a collapse sinkhole or round doline, opens. In the Torcas de los Palancares, in the municipality of Cuenca, the Torca Larga is about 450 m in diameter and the Torca Honda about 50 m deep. The Torcas de Lagunaseca form a Natural Monument of 188 hectares with torcas, dolines, uvalas and a polje, and the SL-CU 5 local trail follows them over 4 km. In Cañada del Hoyo, the bottoms of the dolines reach water and form lakes. In gypsum the process is rapid: in the River Moscas complex in Fuentes, a new doline opened in 2009.

Caves and shafts

The Natural Park’s limestone is full of cavities, some very deep, making the mountains a place for caving. Some are the subject of legends, such as the Cueva de los Moros in Las Majadas; others are sanctuaries, such as the Cueva Santa del Cabriel, Iberian and later a hermitage; others are Sites of Geological Interest, such as the Sima de Juan Herranz in the Serrezuela de Valsalobre. The Cueva de los Morceguillos is a micro-reserve, and the Cueva de la Ramera, in the Hoz de Beteta, was inhabited from the Neolithic.

In the Muela de la Madera, Luis Carcavilla of the IGME estimated more than two hundred cavities in 2007: some with over a kilometre of passages and others over 130 metres deep. The Cueva del Boquerón had more than five kilometres of passages, and the SC16 shaft was over 280 metres deep.

Good conduct

Do not explore shafts or caves without experience, equipment and permission. At the torcas, never go beyond the fences.