Bardenas Reales.

Spanning over 42,000 hectares in southeast Navarre, this striking badlands reserve looks more like the American Southwest or a lunar outpost than northern Spain. Wind and water have sculpted its clay, chalk, and sandstone into a stark wilderness of deep gullies, flat plateaus, and dramatic rock chimneys—most famously the slender Castildetierra pinnacle. The park is divided into three distinct zones, ranging from the pine-dotted Bardena Negra to the highly eroded, pale clay formations of the Bardena Blanca. Beyond its dramatic geology, which has served as a backdrop for *Game of Thrones* and various Westerns, the reserve holds a UNESCO Biosphere status. It supports rare steppe birds and birds of prey, while preserving centuries-old communal grazing routes still used by local shepherds.