Veleta (from the Arab word "Balata", meaning cliff) or Pico del Veleta is the third highest peak of the Iberian Peninsula and the second highest of the Sierra Nevada.

Veleta's northern slopes are home to the Sierra Nevada Ski Station.

This road was built before the creation of the Sierra Nevada National Park in 1999.

[4] It has since been closed to general traffic beyond Hoya de la Mora, just above the ski station.

However, the road is still used by ski station employees, national park rangers, observatory staff, cyclists and walkers, and by a microbus service[5] which takes hikers up to Posiciones del Veleta, a viewpoint 3,100 metres above sea level.