The Maestrazgo is a name that should be said slowly, because it covers a huge and rugged region in the borderlands of Teruel and Castellón, and Mosqueruela lies in its heart. The village is among the highest in the province, well over a thousand metres up, in a country of pine forest, stone farmhouses and wide grassy valleys. The Barranco de Gibert, a ravine nearby, holds painted shelters with Levantine art, and one of the numbered sites is the subject here. It is part of the UNESCO listing of rock art of the Mediterranean basin, and one of the highest and most remote of its kind.
The history of the Maestrazgo is one of fortified villages, shepherds and war. The Knights Templar, and later the Order of Montesa, ran the area in the Middle Ages, and in the nineteenth century it was the stronghold of the Carlist armies, led by the general Cabrera, nicknamed the Tiger of the Maestrazgo. Villages like Villafranca del Cid, in Castellón, still have long, arcaded streets and big stone houses from the time when wool made them rich.
The riding is spectacular but demanding. Roads climb over high passes and wind through forests, with sudden drops into valleys and long views over bare hills. The corners are tight, the surface is variable, and there is a real chance of ice from late autumn to early spring. Wind on the ridges can be fierce. The rewards are a landscape that feels untouched and a silence broken only by sheep bells and the wind in the pines. The black truffle is harvested around here in winter, and the local restaurants serve dishes that make the most of it.
Fuel is a problem. The nearest decent town is l'Alcora, nearly forty kilometres away, with eleven thousand people, and the road there is slow. Fill up before you start, and carry extra if you can. Mosqueruela has a few bars and a shop, but little else.
Come in late spring or early autumn. The shelter is reached on foot, and in this remote area it is best to ask in the village for advice.