A rock is a mountain that is characterized by its rocks . It is a natural elevation with large stones .
The term is usually used to refer to rock masses . The Peñón de Ifach , for example, is located in the Spanish municipality of Calpe , which is part of the province of Alicante . It is a sector of the Betic mountain ranges whose height reaches 332 meters.
The rock of Ifach , of calcareous origin, is located on the coast and is linked to the continental surface through an isthmus . Due to its biological importance, it is protected as a natural park .
Another well-known rock is the Rock of Gibraltar , also belonging to the Baetic mountain ranges . In this case, it develops in the southwestern tip of the European continent and is linked to the Iberian Peninsula thanks to a sandy isthmus that, in turn, is crossed by a canal .
On the Rock of Gibraltar, an Arab castle built in the 8th century and a network of underground galleries stand out. It is important to mention that the rock is under the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom authorities, which administer it as an overseas territory , although Spain claims said region as its own.
In the same way, we cannot ignore what is known as Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera. It is located halfway between the Spanish autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, that is, in North Africa.
It is considered the smallest border in the world as it barely reaches 85 meters in length and separates Spain from the aforementioned African continent. Likewise, it must be emphasized that this rock has a height of 87 meters and that it has belonged to Spain since the 16th century, specifically since 1564.
A curiosity is that until 1930 it was an island close to Morocco. However, that year it suffered an earthquake, which had its epicenter in Fez, and said seismic movement brought with it a series of changes such as sand being deposited on the coast between said island and the African continent, making the Peñón de Vélez ever since de la Gomera and Morocco are united.
Currently, this rock has the only inhabitants of the Spanish military. However, in the past it had up to a thousand neighbors.
The term rock also appears in the name of several administrative divisions. In Argentina , El Peñón is a small town in the province of Catamarca , with less than 300 inhabitants. The Dominican Republic , meanwhile, has a municipality called El Peñón in the province of Barahona , while the Colombian department of Cundinamarca also has a municipality called El Peñón , to mention other places.
Likewise, we cannot forget the Peñón de Guatapé. This, which is also known as Piedra del Peñol, is a monolith that reaches 220 meters high and is located in Guatapé (Colombia). One of its unique features is that you can climb to the top and there is no need to climb to do so, it can be done by climbing the more than 700 steps that were built on it.