Antequera Butterflies July 2026

I was looking forward to my walk below the Torcal de Antequera, where I have found some lovely butterflies in the last few years. Previously I have visited in April and June, so I was interested to see what would be flying there in July.

The track I walk along runs along the northern side of the Torcal, which is an amazing landscape of eroded limestone, so I was hoping there could be a chance for some new species.

Unfortunately, when I arrived I couldn't believe how strong the wind was. It was whipping up grit from the ground and at one point I was blown sideways off the track as I walked along in search of somewhere a little more sheltered!

Luckily there was one very small area of the path where it was more sheltered and this was where the butterflies were hiding. There were a few Sage Skippers trying to keep guard on their sections of the track.

I think I saw four Small Coppers.

Many of the butterflies were quire tattered, possibly pointing to the wind being a common occurrence there. Certainly on my visit in late June 2024 it was also very windy. There were at least twenty Southern Gatekeepers in this area and this was the one in best condition.

There were a few Wall Browns amongst the Thyme bushes.

The only blues I saw were a couple of Long-tailed Blues, but I didn't manage to get a picture of them. Painted Ladies were a lot easier and I was over 40 in this small spot.

There were also about four or five lovely little Southern Brown Argus.

And I was surprised to see this little Lulworth Skipper.

I was pleased to see a couple of Striped Graylings. When I was here in June there were loads hiding in any available shady spot. This one is demonstrating how much larger they are than Southern Gatekeepers.

On my way back along the track towards the sheltered spot, I spied a white butterfly ahead of me, which turned out to be a Bath White when I caught up with it.

As I was watching it a Small White appeared.

And the last butterfly I saw was a Meadow Brown.

I was so pleased that I found this sheltered spot, which made the drive worthwhile. I saw a few species that I hadn't seen at the villa, but I was surprised not to see many species that I had seen here previously. I guess if it hadn't been so windy there would have been a lot more butterflies around.