Bardenas Reales is the Spanish desert famous for its badlands, eroded hills, and semi-arid scenery in Navarre.
The landscape lies in northeastern Spain and consists of clay, silt, and sandstone shaped by wind and occasional heavy rainfall. This combination creates gullies, ravines, flat-topped mesas, and isolated formations that can look more like a desert in the American Southwest than a European landscape.
Bardenas Reales is a protected natural area and a biosphere reserve. Its terrain is divided into zones with different geological and ecological characteristics, including the central Blanca Baja area, where the most recognizable eroded formations occur.
The site is often confused with Spain’s Tabernas Desert in Almería, which is also known for arid scenery and film locations. Bardenas Reales is farther north, in Navarre, and is particularly noted for its badlands and protected natural status.