Natural Spaces in Murcia (Espacio Natural) are areas of the natural environment that due to their aesthetic and cultural values need special protection in order to preserve both the natural environment and the human acticities connected with it.

Espacio Natural Cañón de Almadenes

This area covers two kilometers on the Quípar river and nine on the Segura river and is around 116 hectares close to the towns of Calasparra and Cieza. Some points of the gorge are quite narrow with vertical walls over a hundred meters high.

There is a reservoir called La Mulata, which causes a significant decrease in the flow of the river so the continuous water course is sometimes reduced to a group of ponds (especially in the summer months). The bulk of the flow is diverted to the Almadenes Hydroelectric Plant, located further downstream. However, at the exit of the power plant the water is fed back into the Segura river.