The Abrigo Grande de Minateda is the big one, the name says so, and for once the name is accurate. It is among the most important rock art shelters in the south-east of Spain, a wide overhang in the soft rock outside Hellín in Albacete, where layers of painting from different periods sit one on top of the other. Hunters, deer, goats and strange, elongated human figures were drawn here over thousands of years, and the site is covered by World Heritage protection. The country around it is dry, broken and beautiful, a land of badlands, gullies and flat-topped hills that looks almost like another continent.
The riding around Hellín is quiet and open. Long, smooth roads cross semi-arid plains of cereal and almond, with big skies and distant ridges, and there are few villages, so you can ride for long stretches without meeting much traffic. To the south the land drops toward the Segura valley, and the roads to Cieza and the gorge of Almadenes pass through dramatic canyon scenery. Summer is very hot, and the best seasons are spring and autumn, with mild days and clear light. Winter mornings can be cold, with frost on the plain.
Hellín is a proper town of nearly thirty-one thousand people, about nine kilometres away, so fuel, food and accommodation are easy to find. It is famous for its Holy Week drumming, the Tamborada, during which thousands of drummers fill the streets with thunder through the night and day, a tradition recognised internationally. If you are here in that week, the noise is unforgettable, although rooms are scarce. Albatana, a small village, is the other nearby settlement.
At the site, take time to look carefully. The paintings are faint and sometimes hard to distinguish from natural stains, and a short pause often reveals an animal or figure you missed at first glance. Respect the fences and signs, and keep your hands to yourself. The landscape is not dramatic in the usual sense, but its stillness is a form of drama, and by the end of the afternoon it grows hard to leave.