Alquézar takes its name from the Arabic for the fortress, al-qasr, and the name fits: a hill of honey-coloured rock above the Vero, crowned by a castle and a church, with a tangle of arcaded lanes tumbling down below. The Cueva de Regacens lies about eight hundred metres from the village, a shelter in the limestone that carries painting in the Levantine tradition, protected by UNESCO as part of the rock art of the Mediterranean basin in Spain. It is one of the closest sites to a village of any on these rides, which makes it an easy and pleasant walk, though the paintings are small and faded.
The village sits on the edge of the Sierra de Guara natural park, a wild limestone range that rises behind it, cut by canyons. Olive trees surround the village, and the local oil, golden and fruity, is sold in the shops. Almond groves, vines and box hedges fill the foothills, and the air smells of wild herbs. Griffon vultures glide over the rim of the gorge, and in the evening, swifts scream around the church tower.
The collegiate church, built on the site of the Muslim fortress after the Christian conquest in the late eleventh century, was rebuilt over centuries, and the Romanesque cloister is a beautiful, quiet space. The lanes below are narrow and steep, paved with stone and lined with houses that lean against each other. It is a lovely place to walk, and early morning or late afternoon, when the tour buses are gone, is best.
The ride from Barbastro is a delight, climbing gently through vineyards and olive groves and then twisting into the gorge. Surfaces are good, but the road is narrow, and traffic can be heavy at weekends in summer, with coaches and canyoners' vans. Park at the entrance to the village, since the lanes are closed to most traffic.
Alquézar has only about three hundred people, so fuel is at Barbastro, about seventeen kilometres away, a town of nearly seventeen thousand with plenty of stations and good restaurants. Salas Altas, to the south, is tiny. Bring water for the walk, since summer heat in the gorge can be intense.