Teruel province has some of the darkest skies in Europe. With so few people and so little light, the stars on a clear night over the plateau are astonishing, thick as spilled salt, with the Milky Way arching overhead. The province has taken this seriously: the Javalambre Astrophysical Observatory, high in the mountains to the south, is one of the most modern in Spain. If you are staying overnight in this area, go outside after dark and look up. You will remember it.
The Abrigo de los Encebros lies about three and a half kilometres from Alacón, a village of under five hundred people, in the dry hills of the Bajo Aragón. It is one of a string of painted shelters along the Río Martín, part of a cultural park, and carries painting in the Levantine tradition, protected by UNESCO as part of the rock art of the Mediterranean basin in Spain. The ride links it to another site, the Coveta de la Cornisa, the little cave under the ledge.
The land here is open and spare. Low hills of ochre and grey, olive and almond terraces, patches of pine and scrub, and the thin green line of the river. Villages are small and far apart, with brick churches in the Mudéjar style, and many houses stand empty. It is a country of silence, and its emptiness is part of the appeal.
The roads are quiet and gently rolling. Corners are mostly easy, with a few tight bends where the road dips into the gorge, and the surface is mostly good, though patched. A tailwind can make the long straights fly by, and a headwind can make them a slog. In winter, frost forms early and lingers on shaded stretches, and in summer, the sun is relentless.
Alacón and Oliete are too small to be sure of fuel, so fill up in Andorra, a town of nearly eight thousand people about twenty-one kilometres away, or in Albalate del Arzobispo. Both have petrol, bakeries and bars. Carry water, and a warm jacket if you plan to stay out after sunset, since the temperature falls quickly.