Spain, after Switzerland the country with the highest average altitude in Europe: on average 660 meters above sea level. But 11% is less than 200 meters and 42% higher than 1200 meters, Madrid is the highest capital of Europe.
The core landscape of Spain is the Meseta, a vast plateau, by the granite-rich Central System (Cordillera Central, 600 km long) is divided in two: the Submeseta Norte and Submeseta Sur, also called Old Castile and New Castile called .
The highest peak is the Sierra de Gredos (2592 m). The northern part of the plateau lies at an altitude of 800-900 meters, the southern section lies at an altitude of 600-700 meters.
The southern boundary is formed by the Sierra Morena, the northeastern boundary by the young Iberian Edge Mountains, the early decline in the Ebro limits. The breaks in the lower Ebro by the Catalan mountains along the coast. The Pyrenees, with peaks above 3000 m (highest peak Pico Aneto, 3404 m) are quite broad in the east to the west and narrows.
Connects to the Asturian-Cantabrian Mountains (highest peak Picos de Europa, 2648 km) with the Galician massif. In the southeast lies the Andalusian mountain range called Cordillera Betische called and extends from Gibraltar, and in fact extends to the Balearic Islands. The highest part of this young mountain range formed by the Sierra Nevada with the Mulhacen (3481 meters) the highest peak of mainland Spain.
Remarkably, the highest peak on Spanish territory, Pico de Teide on the Canary island of Tenerife (3707 meters).
At the foot of the many mountain ranges are so many landscapes, such as the green valleys in the north, the desert areas of Extremadura, the rice fields of the Levante, olive groves and apple orchards of Andalusia, the palm forest of Elche in Alicante and the many rocky shores.