In the dry hills behind Ulldecona, near the southern tip of Catalonia, small figures painted in red ochre run, hunt and gather across the walls of shallow rock shelters. These are the paintings of Levantine rock art, made by prehistoric people some seven to eight thousand years ago, and the shelters of the Serra de Godall, including the Abric d'Esquarterades, are among the best examples. They are part of the World Heritage site that covers rock art in the Mediterranean Basin of the Iberian Peninsula.
The figures are small, often just a few centimetres high, but full of life. Archers draw their bows, deer and goats leap, and people move in groups. The style is dynamic, almost narrative, and it tells us a lot about the lives of the hunter-gatherers and early farmers who lived here. The paintings are fragile, and access is usually by guided tour, often starting from the interpretation centre at the Ermita de la Pietat, a hermitage just outside Ulldecona.
The landscape is dry and Mediterranean, with olive groves, almond trees, carob and scrub covering the low hills. To the east, the Ebro Delta stretches out into the sea, a flat world of rice fields, lagoons and beaches, rich in birdlife, including flamingos. To the north, the Montsià mountains rise sharply above the coast, and inland, the Ports de Beseit offer rugged limestone peaks and gorges.
The riding is varied and fun. The roads around Ulldecona are quiet and winding, with good surfaces and views over the olive groves. The road over the Montsià to the coast, and the routes into the Ports, are particularly good, with tight bends, steep gradients and spectacular scenery. The flat roads of the Ebro Delta are a different experience, through rice fields and along lagoons, with the sea always close. Wind can be strong here, especially the mestral blowing down the Ebro valley.
Ulldecona, about five kilometres away, has fuel, shops and restaurants. Amposta and Sant Carles de la Ràpita are larger towns nearby. The area is famous for its olive oil and its rice, and you can eat excellent paella and arròs negre, rice cooked with squid ink, in the delta restaurants. The oysters and mussels farmed in the bays of the delta are also worth seeking out.