Tabernas Desert
| Tabernas Desert (Desierto de Tabernas) | |
| Desert | |
 A view of the badlands in the Granada Plateau (Guadix Depression).
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| Country | Spain |
|---|---|
| Autonomous Community | Andalusia |
| Province | Almería |
| Municipality | Tabernas |
| Coordinates | Coordinates: 37°00′N 2°27′W / 37°N 2.45°W |
| Area | 280 km2 (108 sq mi) |
| Biome | Semidesert |
The Tabernas Desert (Spanish: Desierto de Tabernas) is one of Spain's semi-deserts, located within Spain's southeastern province of Almería. Almeria is the driest region of Europe, with the continent's only true desert climate where annual rainfall reaches levels as low as 156 mm in coastal areas. The Tabernas desert is located in the interior, about 30 kilometers (19 mi) north of the provincial capital, Almería, in the Tabernas municipality. Due to its altitude it has slightly higher annual rainfall (more than 200 mm per year) and lower annual average temperature than Almeria's coastal desert. It is protected as a wilderness area (paraje natural) spanning 280 square kilometres (110 square miles).
Tabernas desert has various types of climates; from the hot desert climate in a few lowland areas (BWh) to the cold desert climate (BWk) and the semi-arid climate (BSk) in most of the desert. The Tabernas Desert is situated between the Sierra de los Filabres to the north and the Sierra de Alhamilla to the south-southeast, isolating it from the humid winds of the Mediterranean Sea, in an area with little rainfall known as Levante.
In the lowest areas of the Tabernas basin (about 400 meters above sea level), the average annual temperature is of about 18.0 °C ([1] (Soil–geomorphology relations in gypsiferous materials of the Tabernas Desert (Almería, SE Spain), page 4/30). Temperatures in winter rarely drop below freezing at night while during the summer, absolute maximum temperatures always surpass 40 °C (104 °F) in the shade. The annual average precipitation is between 15-22 cm (depending on the zone, see same source pages 1 & 4/30) with only 1/3 falling in the hot season (May to October). The average annual sunshine is about 3000 hours.
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