The Collado de la Cruz is a saddle in the wild Sierra del Segura, in the south-west corner of Albacete province, and the shelter here belongs to one of the richest regions of prehistoric painting in Spain. Nerpio, the village about three and a half kilometres away, sits at over a thousand metres and is surrounded by dozens of rock-art sites, in both the Levantine style and the later schematic style, which uses simple dots, lines and stick-like figures. The Levantine paintings are protected by UNESCO as part of the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula.
This is remote country, even by Spanish standards. Nerpio has under seventeen hundred people, and the next town of any size, Yeste, is more than twenty kilometres away. Between lie high valleys, pine forests, bare limestone ridges and the headwaters of the Taibilla, a river that supplies drinking water to a good part of the south-east. Winter here is cold, with snow on the tops and sharp frosts at night, while summer is dry but not as brutal as the coast. The air feels thin and clear, and the night sky is exceptionally dark.
For motorcyclists, this is the sort of place that justifies a long detour. The roads are twisting, narrow and nearly empty, with every sort of bend, from long sweepers across the plateau to tight switchbacks as they fall into valleys. Surfaces are mostly good on the main links but can be broken and gravelly on side roads, particularly after storms or winter. In some places, livestock wander across the road, and in the early morning you may share the tarmac with sheep.
Fuel is the main thing to plan. Yeste, with around three and a half thousand people, is the best bet nearby, and it also has food. Letur, a pretty whitewashed village to the east, is worth the stop for coffee and a view of its Moorish-looking lanes. Bring plenty of water, a warm layer in spring and autumn, and a willingness to go slowly.