El Campello was a fishing village a few decades ago, and the old port still has some of that flavour, with boats pulled up on the sand and a row of restaurants selling fish and rice. It now has over twenty-six thousand people, thanks to tourism and to the sprawl of Alicante, but it also has a surprisingly deep history. On the headland south of the beach, a small rocky islet, the Illeta dels Banyets, preserves the remains of a Bronze Age and Iberian settlement and of Roman fish tanks cut into the rock, a reminder that people have been exploiting this coast for thousands of years.
The Garganta de la Hoz, about fourteen kilometres inland, is a different world. This Abric V lies in the hills behind the coastal strip, in a landscape of pale limestone, scrub and pine, and carries painting in the Levantine tradition, protected by UNESCO as part of the rock art of the Mediterranean basin in Spain. A neighbouring site on the ride is the Barranc d'Alpadull.
Hoz means gorge, and the landscape, a mix of dry gullies and ridge-tops covered in thyme, rosemary and dwarf palm, does look as if it was cut by water. The palm, the palmito, is the only palm native to mainland Europe, and its fan-shaped leaves have been used for centuries to make baskets and brooms. Look for the stumpy clumps among the rocks.
The ride from the coast climbs quickly into the hills and is a welcome change from the congested seafront. Roads are narrow and twisty, with a mix of smooth tarmac and rough patches, and gravel in the corners. Traffic is light, but cyclists are common, especially at weekends. Morning is best, before the heat builds.
Fuel is easy at El Campello and Villajoyosa, which has nearly thirty-four thousand people, and San Juan de Alicante is also close. There are no services in the hills, so carry water and a snack.