The Indalo is everywhere in Almería: a little stick figure holding an arc over its head, painted on houses, sold as a souvenir and used as the symbol of the province. It comes from a rock shelter near Vélez-Blanco, the Cueva de los Letreros, where it was painted in prehistoric times, and the area around the village is rich in rock art, part of the World Heritage rock art of the Mediterranean. The shelters around Santonje, near the villages of María and Vélez-Blanco, are among them.
Vélez-Blanco is a white village below a Renaissance castle, built in the early sixteenth century by the Marquis of los Vélez. Its marble patio, one of the finest of the Spanish Renaissance, was sold in the early twentieth century and is now displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The Sierra de María, a natural park, rises behind the villages, a limestone range covered with pine and holm oak, reaching over two thousand metres, and it is one of the coolest places in Almería.
The riding in the north of Almería is spectacular and empty. The roads wind through the mountains and across high plateaus, with tight bends and views over wild landscapes. The road from Vélez-Blanco to María, and on towards the Sierra de María, is particularly fine. Traffic is light, and the surfaces are generally good. The climate is drier and cooler than on the coast, with hot summers and cold winters; snow is possible on the high ground. Spring and autumn are ideal, with clear skies and mild temperatures.
María and Vélez-Blanco are small villages with basic services, and Vélez-Rubio, sixteen kilometres away, is a larger town with fuel, shops and restaurants. The local cuisine is mountain food: migas, gurullos, a pasta stew with rabbit, and cured meats. The castle of Vélez-Blanco can be visited, and the view from its walls over the village and the valley is wonderful. In the evening, the light on the white houses and the castle turns gold, and swallows swoop over the rooftops.