The name Levantine art is slightly misleading, because the style is not found on the coast. It takes its name from the Spanish Levante, the Mediterranean side of the peninsula, but the painted shelters sit inland, in the ravines and sierras of the interior, in an arc running from the Pyrenean foothills of Lleida down through Aragón, the Maestrat, Albacete and Murcia, to the mountains of Almería. Hundreds of sites are known, and every few years someone finds another. The people who painted them were hunter-gatherers and early farmers, and the style, with its small, lively, red or black human figures and animals, is quite different from the great bison of the Ice Age caves in the north.
The Covetes del Puntal, the Little Caves of the Peak, lie in the ravines about six kilometres from Albocàsser, and Abric III is one of a numbered series. It belongs to the group protected by UNESCO as part of the rock art of the Mediterranean basin in Spain. The ride ties it to Racó de Nando, Nando's Corner, a site named for a local man. Dating the paintings is still argued over, and nobody can say for certain when each was made, but the span runs over several thousand years.
For the visitor, the practical matters are modest. The last stretch is on foot, along a path that may be steep and loose, and shade is scarce. A hat, sturdy shoes, water and some patience are all you need. In spring, the slopes are rich with flowers, and in autumn the light is clear and gold. Summer is hot, and the middle of the day is best avoided.
The lanes out of Albocàsser are narrow and quiet, with bends that tighten without warning and a surface that varies from fresh tarmac to broken edges. Take it slowly. You will probably be alone, and the silence is memorable.
Albocàsser has fewer than fourteen hundred people and the only certain thing is a coffee. For fuel, fill up at Alcalà de Xivert, on the coastal plain, before heading inland. Les Coves de Vinromà and Catí are small, but have bars and a few shops. Carry water in all seasons.