Behind the Costa Blanca, in the dry hills between El Campello and Villajoyosa, the coastal strip of hotels and apartment blocks gives way surprisingly quickly to scrub, limestone and abandoned terraces. The painted figures themselves are small, red and weathered, and very easy to pass by unless someone shows you where to look.
Do not expect a visitor centre. Sites like this often sit at the end of a walking track, on private or protected land, and some have restricted access to protect the paint. Treat the point as a place to start a wander, and ask locally before assuming you can climb in.
The ride here, though, is a pleasure of its own. The back roads in this part of Alicante province wind through carob, almond and pine, with short climbs and an abrupt drop to the sea on the far side. Traffic is heavy on the coastal road in summer and thins to almost nothing once you head inland, where the biggest hazards are cyclists in tight groups and the odd flock of sheep. Surface quality varies but is generally acceptable on the main local roads. Villajoyosa, with nearly thirty-four thousand people, has fuel, a seafront of brightly painted houses, and a chocolate-making tradition that it is justly proud of. El Campello is smaller but just as practical for a stop.
The hills are the place to be in the cooler months. In the middle of summer the sun is merciless and the stone gives off heat well into the evening. Late autumn, with the first rains, brings out the smell of wet pine and thyme, and the light over the sea in the afternoon is the kind that makes people stop the bike for no reason at all.