The Ebro makes a great loop through southern Catalonia, and the Cova del Ramat lies in the dry hills just west of it, above the villages of Ginestar and Rasquera. The river here is broad and slow, lined with orchards and reed beds, and in 1938 it became the site of the Battle of the Ebro, the longest and bloodiest battle of the Spanish Civil War, which raged for nearly four months in the summer and autumn and left the hills riddled with trenches. Their traces survive in the landscape, and several memorial sites and museums, notably around Gandesa, tell the story.
The riding is rewarding and varied. Roads leave the river valley into the Serra de Cardó and neighbouring ranges, a land of scrub, pine and rocky ridges, with long views across the Ebro and the lowlands toward the Mediterranean. The bends are open and the tarmac holds up well, with little traffic outside the summer weekends. To the north lie the vineyards of the Priorat and Montsant, where slate soils produce some of Spain's most admired wines, and the roads there are twisting and scenic. Spring is the best season, with wildflowers and soft air, followed by autumn when the vineyards turn red and gold. Summer afternoons can be punishing, with temperatures above thirty-five degrees.
Fuel is a question of planning. Ginestar and Rasquera have a few hundred to a thousand inhabitants each, so look for stations in the bigger towns strung along the Ebro, such as Móra d'Ebre, or head toward the coast. Mont-roig del Camp, on the other side, is bigger, and the painter Joan Miró had a family farm there, which he loved and painted often. The local food is Mediterranean, with olive oil, almonds and good bread.
Cova del Ramat is one of several rock shelters here, and the paintings are of a style found all along the Spanish Levant. Visit with care, keep to the paths and take nothing but photographs. In the evening the hills fall quiet, and the smell of thyme and warm stone rises from the slopes.