A cingle is a long band of cliff, the kind of cliff that runs along the side of a hill like a belt, and the Cingle de la Mola Remigia is one of the great ones of the Maestrat. A mola is a table mountain, a flat-topped hill with sheer sides, and this one rises above a ravine near Benassal, about five kilometres from the village. The cliff face is a wall of pale limestone, stained with orange and grey, with ledges, overhangs and hollows that are as good for shelter today as they were when people began to paint on their walls.
Abric VIII is one of a group of shelters in the cingle, listed as part of the Mediterranean Basin rock art that UNESCO included in 1998. Visits are often organised by guides in the district, and the museum at Tírig is a good source of advice, since many shelters are fragile and some are closed.
The landscape around is open and airy. Holm oak, pine and juniper cover the slopes, and the farmland on the plateau is a mix of almond, olive and cereal, with stone huts and old farmhouses at intervals. In spring the ground is green with wildflowers, and in autumn the oaks turn a deep brown. Deer and wild boar are common, and griffon vultures and eagles circle over the cliffs in the heat of the afternoon. The silence is the thing you remember.
The riding is a pleasure in the cooler months. Roads wind over passes and along ridges in easy bends, with a decent surface and very little traffic, though the lanes close to the cliffs may be rough and narrow. In summer, the heat on the exposed plateau is fierce, so start early. Benassal, with a bit over thirteen hundred people, has basic services, and Villafranca del Cid, which is larger, is the place to look for fuel.
Local food is mountain food: cured ham, black pudding, lamb and a good cheese from nearby Catí, with olive oil from the surrounding groves. Try to be at the cliff in the morning or late afternoon, when the sun picks out the colours in the rock.