The Mediterranean Basin rock art does not end at the Valencian border, and the Cova de l'Escoda is a reminder that the painted shelters stretch up into Catalonia. This one lies in the hills inland from the Costa Daurada, in the dry, rugged country of the Baix Camp and the Ribera d'Ebre, with the Serra de Llaberia to the north and the Ebro valley to the south-west. The shelter belongs to the group listed by UNESCO in 1998, and its paintings are in the Levantine style. The nearest places on the map are El Perelló and Ginestar, though the largest town in the area is Mont-roig del Camp, some sixteen kilometres away.
Mont-roig has a particular claim to fame. It was the family farm of Joan Miró, who spent childhood summers there and returned throughout his life to paint, and the farmhouse, Mas Miró, appears in one of his best-known early works. The artist said the landscape of this part of Catalonia, with its red earth, carob trees and bright sea, shaped everything he later did. It is not hard to see why when you look at the colours here in the late afternoon.
The country is hard and fragrant, a mix of scrub, pine woods and terraced fields of almonds, olives and hazelnuts. The Ebro is not far, and the delta, with its rice fields and its birds, is a short ride south. The smell, on a warm day, is of thyme and resin and the faint salt of the sea. Wild boar are common and the cliffs hold eagles.
Riding here is easy and rewarding. The roads climb from the coast in a series of gentle bends, cross low passes with views of hills and sea, and wind through villages with narrow streets. Traffic is heavy near the coast in summer, because of the resorts, but the inland roads are quiet. The surface is generally good. Fuel is plentiful at the larger towns, including Mont-roig del Camp and El Perelló, and bars serve local food including calçots, the grilled spring onions of Catalonia, in season. Spring and autumn are the best seasons.