Letur is a village that photographs well, especially as you come in along the valley of the Río Mundo and see the cluster of white houses on its rock. The Cueva Colorá lies about twelve kilometres from it, in the dry hills toward Socovos and Férez, and it is one of a group of shelters that includes the Cueva del Gitano and the Cueva de la Plata, all of them within the area that UNESCO listed in 1998 as Mediterranean rock art.
The name Colorá means coloured, and it points to the reddish stain on the rock face, whether from iron oxide in the stone or from the paintings themselves. In this country red is the colour of everything: the soil, the clay roof tiles, the pigment on the shelters. Early painters used iron-rich ochre mixed with a binder, and in a few places it has survived for six thousand years or more, which is a better record than most modern paint.
For riders, the little roads of this corner of Albacete are an acquired taste. They are not spectacular in the way that the Alpine passes are, but they have a feeling of space and silence that is rare in Europe. A typical stretch rises over a low pass of pine, descends into a valley of olive and almond, crosses a stream on a narrow bridge, and climbs again. The tarmac is patched and occasionally rough, but traffic is almost absent, and you can ride at a gentle pace and stop wherever you like. The best months are April, May, September and October.
Fuel is a long way off. Letur has about twelve hundred people and a bar or two, Socovos and Férez are smaller or similar, and the nearest sizeable town is Moratalla, twenty-one kilometres away, which has pumps, shops and restaurants. Letur is a sensible place for a coffee and a slow walk through the lanes of the old Moorish quarter. Carry water for the shelter walk, since the paths are stony and exposed.