Albarracín looks as though it were poured onto its rock. The old town winds along a loop of the Guadalaviar river, in the hills of Teruel, and its houses, the colour of dusty roses, climb the hillside under a line of medieval walls that follow the ridge. In the eleventh century it was the seat of a small independent Muslim state under the Banu Razin family, and it later became a Christian lordship before joining Aragon. Its wooden balconies, narrow lanes and tilting houses are a national monument, and it is regularly named among the most beautiful villages in Spain.
Four and a half kilometres from the town, the Pinares de Rodeno protected landscape is a forest of pines growing on red sandstone, which weathers into odd pillars and hollows. The rodeno, as the stone is called, gave the town its warm colour, and in many of its overhangs are prehistoric paintings, some in red, and the shelter's name, the Shelter of the Yellow Figures, hints at a different colour. The group of Levantine rock art sites in the Albarracín area is part of the Mediterranean Basin rock art that UNESCO listed in 1998.
Riding here is a joy. The roads cross a high plateau, at over a thousand metres, with open views, juniper and pine woods, and rivers cutting small gorges. Several great Spanish rivers rise within a short distance, including the Tagus, the Turia and the Júcar, in the Montes Universales to the north-west. The bends are open and fast, the surface mostly good, and traffic is light. Winters are cold and snow can close roads, while summer nights are cool.
Albarracín has a thousand inhabitants and a modest range of services, while Gea de Albarracín and Cella, a larger town, offer more, including fuel. Teruel, the provincial capital, is about forty kilometres away. Local food is mountain food, with cured ham from Teruel, lamb, migas and truffles from the forests, and the bakeries sell good almond pastries.
The ride links this shelter with the Balma de la Fabriqueta. Go early or late in the day, when the light on the pink walls is warm and the day-trip crowds have gone.