Hondares is a word on a map that barely registers, and that is exactly why people come. It lies in the high, dry country where the province of Murcia gives way to Albacete, between the Sierra de Segura foothills and the Segura river, which has carved a long valley here before it spills into the Fuensanta reservoir. Moratalla, the nearest real town, is about twelve kilometres away, and in this part of Spain that counts as close.
Moratalla municipality has one of the densest concentrations of prehistoric rock art in the country. The painted shelters here, together with the many others across the Mediterranean side of Spain, make up the group UNESCO recognised in 1998. The figures are mostly in red, small and delicate, and they show people, animals and hunting scenes. Moratalla has also been settled since the Bronze Age, and later the Romans and Moors left their marks. Its Holy Week is famous for the tamborada, in which hundreds of drummers fill the town with a sound you can feel in your chest, if you happen to be passing in spring.
The riding between Moratalla, Socovos and Férez is the kind of back-of-beyond roads that motorcyclists dream about. It is empty, curvy and lined with pine forest, with the occasional view over a reservoir the colour of a bruise. The surface is generally fine, though there are patches where frost has broken it up. Winter can bring ice at height, and summer is fierce, so spring and autumn are the best times. Early morning light on the red soil is something to see.
You will need to plan. Fuel is available in Moratalla, a town of around eight and a half thousand, but not in the smaller villages around, so fill up there. Socovos has a small shop and bars where you can get coffee, but keep your tank full. Take water, too, since the countryside is dry and the shelters have no facilities.
The shelters here are cherished by local archaeologists, so please leave them as you find them.