Aledo is a tiny village on a rocky spur in the hills of Murcia, a place that punches well above its weight in history. In the eleventh century, it was a fortress on the frontier between Christian Castile and the Muslim taifa kingdoms, and the siege of Aledo in 1088 was a major episode in the struggle for the peninsula. A tower still stands above the village. The Cueva de la Plata, the silver cave, lies in the hills nearby, between Aledo, Totana and Alhama de Murcia.
The area around Aledo and the Sierra Espuña is rich in prehistoric sites, from Bronze Age settlements of the El Argar culture, which flourished in south-east Spain around four thousand years ago, to painted shelters in the ravines. La Bastida, near Totana, is one of the most important Argaric sites in Europe, a fortified hilltop town with massive walls. The Cueva de la Plata is part of this rich archaeological landscape, a small site rather than a visitor attraction.
The Sierra Espuña, just north, is a regional park with forests of pine that were replanted at the turn of the twentieth century to stop erosion, a pioneering project. The mountains rise to over fifteen hundred metres, and the park has old snow wells, where snow was packed into ice for the towns below.
The riding here is excellent. The road from Aledo into the Sierra Espuña winds through pine forest, with tight bends, steep sections and views of the plains of Murcia below. The road from Alhama de Murcia up to the park and over toward Mula is a local favourite with motorcyclists and cyclists. Surfaces are generally good, but watch for gravel, cyclists and wild boar. Summer heat on the plain is intense, but the mountains are cooler.
Totana, about fourteen kilometres away, has all services, as does Alhama. Totana is known for its pottery, with workshops still producing large clay jars. Local cuisine includes rice with rabbit and snails and pastries such as the paparajote, lemon leaves dipped in batter, fried and dusted with sugar, but you do not eat the leaf. Spring and autumn are the best seasons.