What kind of cartography is available?
There’s 1:25.000 and 1:50.000 series for the whole country from the IGN (Instituto Geografico Nacional, National Geograhical Institute) and the SGE (Servicio Cartografico del Ejercito, Arm forces Cartography Services), respectively. The newer editions (something like 1999 and later) have improved rendering with shaded relief which make them quite good. The topography is accurate but the trails are usually not. Most are missing, actually. Both series have the UTM grid. There’s recreational oriented cartography for the popular hiking and mountaneering destinations. These maps focus on trails, mountaneering routes and such and their quality and accuracy vary. They’re improving with time and some are really outstanding. Most have the UTM grid as well. If I plan on difficult route finding, I take both a recreational map, if available, for the trails and a 1:25.000 IGN map for the topography. That way, I have the best of both worlds.
