A cave with a clock in its name: nobody can tell you for certain why, but El Reloj, the shelter above the Quesada countryside in the province of Jaén, has been given that name since long before the archaeologists arrived. It lies four kilometres from the town of Quesada, on the western edge of the Sierra de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas, Spain's largest protected area. The area is thick with painted shelters, among them Cueva del Reloj, Las Covachicas and La Alamedilla, which appear together on the route and which belong to the rock art listed by UNESCO in 1998.
Jaén is olive country in a way that is hard to imagine until you see it. In every direction the slopes are covered with regular rows of trees, a grey-green carpet that stretches to the horizon, and the province produces more oil than most countries. Quesada, a town of about six thousand people, is also known as the birthplace of the painter Rafael Zabaleta, who painted the working people of the olive lands in a strong, simple style, and whose museum is in the town.
The ride towards Cazorla is a pleasure. The road from Úbeda climbs gradually through olive groves, then turns into the foothills, where pine takes over and the bends tighten. Beyond Quesada, the road toward Huesa and Hinojares crosses wide open rolling country with little traffic. In summer the temperature is brutal, regularly above forty degrees in the afternoon, and in winter the mountain roads can be icy. Spring and autumn are the right times, when the oil harvest starts in November and the roads fill with tractors and trailers.
Quesada is large enough to have fuel stations, shops and bars, and Huesa, a few kilometres away, is a smaller town of about two and a half thousand. Cazorla, thirty kilometres or so to the east, is the gateway to the natural park, with its narrow streets and Renaissance fountain. For the shelter itself you need good shoes and water, and a willingness to follow a local walker if you can find one.