A: Early extensional exhumation of the Ronda-Beni Bousera peridotites, according to Kornprobst and Vielzeuf (1984). B: Rollback model accounting for building of the West Mediterranean Alpine belts and opening of the Western Mediterranean, modifed after Lonergan and White (1997). Ca: Calabria; Pe: Peloritani Mts. C: Contrasting restorations of the Tethyan realm between Africa, Adria, Iberia and Western Europe, according to Bouillin et al. (1986) and Guerrera et al. (1993), respectively (after Guerrera et al., 2019). The “Betic Ocean” is named after Puga (1990). D: Lithospheric scale cross-section showing the Neogene exhumation of the Ronda-Beni Bousera peridotites at ∼40 km depth in the framework of N- to NE-dipping subduction and correlative back-arc extension, preceding the final compressional deformation of the Rif-Betic orogen, after Garrido et al. (2011).