Above the whitewashed roofs of Vélez-Blanco stands one of the most unexpected castles in Spain. It was built in the early sixteenth century for the first Marquis of Los Vélez, Pedro Fajardo, on a rocky spur, with a severe Gothic exterior and a Renaissance courtyard of astonishing delicacy inside. In the early twentieth century the owners sold the marble courtyard, which was taken down stone by stone and shipped abroad, and it now stands, reassembled, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. A later restoration left the castle itself with plain rooms, but it remains a splendid sight from the road.
Hoyos II is a small rock shelter in the country around the town, in the Sierra María-Los Vélez, and belongs to the same family of painted shelters that UNESCO protects across the Spanish Mediterranean. These Almerian sites are often schematic, a few lines in red ochre, and they are among the oldest evidence of human presence in this high dry land. Much of the interest is in the context: sheltered rock faces under overhangs where prehistoric people sat out the weather, with fine views of the plateau.
Riding in the Los Vélez country is a quiet joy. The roads are mostly empty, with long straights across the plateau, then looping climbs into the hills with a good surface and grand views of rolling fields and distant peaks. Wind can be strong on the open ground, and in winter ice may linger in shaded corners. Spring is the best time, when the almond blossom is out and the fields are green, and autumn brings clear air and soft light on the stone villages.
Practical services are easy to find. Vélez-Blanco has a small selection of bars and restaurants and a visitor office near the castle, and Vélez-Rubio, a few kilometres further, has fuel, banks and shops. Lunch might be a local stew with a glass of wine from the nearby hills. Plan to arrive early if you want to visit the castle, and wear sturdy shoes if you want to walk to the shelters, because the paths are rocky and the sun is hot.