ABSTRACT
The area’s orography, which modulates the influ ence of the low pressure systems, and the occurrence of the mesoscale convective phenomena help determine how much water is collected in each zone. These two factors are responsible for the great spatial variability of rainfall in the Iberian Peninsula. A good portion of the territory is above 1,000 m in altitude, and the orientation of all the mountain chains but one is approximately west to east. There is a dif ference, clearly noticeable in the vegetation, between slopes facing north and slopes facing south. Geography books frequently divide the Spanish Peninsula into two zones: wet and dry. The wet area, with total annual rains of more than 600 mm, encompasses the mountainous part of the north; the
dry area covers the rest of the country. It is a schematic division, simple and useful. In reality, it is much more complex. Parts of the dry area (specifi cally, the higher elevations) have total rainfall of more than 600 mm. In contrast, some parts of the wet area have summer drought despite total rainfall amounts of more than 600 mm. Because of the type of veg etation that grows in these areas, the climate could be considered Mediterranean.
