Xert is the kind of village you pass through on the way to somewhere else and then wonder why you did not stop. It lies in the Baix Maestrat in northern Castellón, below a ridge of bare limestone, with the old village climbing the slope and a newer part down by the road. The shelter called the Abric del Mas dels Ous, the shelter of the farmhouse of the eggs, is out in the dry hills nearby, between Xert, Canet lo Roig and Rosell.
The Maestrat is one of the heartlands of Levantine rock art. Within a modest radius of here are some of the most important painted shelters in Spain, including the Valltorta gorge near Tírig with its museum, where the scenes of archers and hunted animals are among the most celebrated examples of the style. Smaller shelters like this one fill in the picture: the same small, energetic figures, the same reddish pigments, the same choice of overhangs looking out over valleys where game would have moved. Most are protected and some are only accessible with a guide.
The landscape is the point. This is dry, rugged country of almond and olive terraces built over centuries with dry-stone walls, abandoned masias, holm oak and kermes oak on the slopes, and the smell of thyme and rosemary on a warm day. The name Maestrat comes from the Maestre, the master of the military orders, Templars and then the Order of Montesa, who ruled here after the conquest.
The roads are excellent for a bike. The CV roads from Xert toward Morella climb steadily through the hills with long series of bends and good views, and the route west over the passes toward the interior is famous among local riders. Traffic is light except on summer weekends. Surfaces are generally good, though gravel and the odd crumbling edge appear on the smaller roads. Xert has a bar or two, but for fuel and a proper choice of food, plan around Sant Mateu, Vinaròs on the coast, or Ulldecona, about twenty-five kilometres away, which is the nearest larger town. Sant Mateu, close by, was once the capital of the Maestrat and has a lovely arcaded square.