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Carcabuey is the administrative centre for the Parque Natural Sierra Subbetica. Declared a Regional Park in 1988, the 122 sq. ml./316 sq.km. range rises to a height of 1570 metres at the limestone summit of La Tinosa - just 7 kilometres from the town of Priego.
The natural abundance of underground water comes to the surface at numerous springs and streams, and supports a typical vegetation of gall and holm oak, maple, wild olive, ilex and mastic trees. Wildlife including Golden eagle, imperial eagle, griffon vulture, short toed and eagle owls thrive in the park as well as kestrel and peregrine falcon. Wild cat, boar, fox and hedgehog are among the mammals, whose most distinctive and unusual member is undoubtedly the red-toothed Cabrera shrew.
The limestone uplands provide excellent walking conditions with wooded slopes, rocky gorges, Moorish watchtowers and many caves, notably the Cueva de Murcielaga - Bat Cave, near Zuheros where Neothithic paintings and other prehistoric human traces have been found. The villages and small towns of the Subbetica are all white painted, and most of them have the remains of a Moorish castle or other antiquity. Carcabuey, Zuheros, Luque, Zagrilla and Almedinilla stand out as being among the most interesting and picturesque.
The name of the Park as well as of the wider district ("Subbetica" is also an administrative area consisting of 14 municipalities) derives from the Roman province of Betica, which corresponded very roughly with modern Andalucia. Traces from the Roman period are found in various places but most notably in the village of Almedinilla, where the remains of an extensive villa complex are open to view at fixed hours. In the same village is a museum housed in a former watermill at the foot of a gorge.
Olive oil is the mainstay of the Subbetica economy, and of Priego itself. Spain is by far the world's biggest producer and its areas of production are denominated, much as in viticulture. The denomination of Priego frequently wins the 'Best in Spain' as well as international awards, and oil from Carcabuey has done particularly well in recent years.
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