El Cogul is a village of a few dozen houses in Les Garrigues, the low, stony plateau of western Catalonia where the whole landscape seems to be one big olive grove. Just outside it, a wall of rock above a small valley holds one of the most important prehistoric paintings in the country. The shelter is known as the Roca dels Moros, the Moors' Rock, which is simply the Catalan habit of attributing anything old and mysterious to the Moors, and it was brought to scientific attention in the early twentieth century by a local priest.
The famous scene shows a group of small women in long skirts, apparently dancing around a tiny naked man, painted in dark red and black. It is one of the few Levantine compositions that people instantly read as ritual, and visitors argue happily about what is going on. Centuries later, in Roman times, someone scratched inscriptions in Latin and Iberian script on the same wall, which suggests the shelter was treated as a holy place for a very long time. The art belongs to the group of Levantine sites that UNESCO lists, and there is a small interpretation centre in the village.
Les Garrigues is the home of the Arbequina olive, a small, fruity variety that produces much of the oil Catalans pour on their bread. The terraced fields are bordered by dry-stone walls, and the harvest in late autumn brings out whole families with nets and sticks. Almond trees bloom in February, and the plateau is a quilt of silver green and rust brown, with distant views to the Pyrenees on clear days.
For riding, the roads between the villages are straight, narrow and quiet, climbing and dropping gently across the plateau, and the pace is easy. Surfaces vary from fresh asphalt to rough patches, and tractors and delivery trucks are the main traffic. Summer heat is heavy, and winter mornings can be foggy and cold. Spring and autumn are the best seasons. Take the time to roll slowly through the villages, where old men sit outside the bar and dogs sleep in the road.
Lleida, about eighteen kilometres away, has fuel stations, shops and restaurants, and Juneda, nearer, is also large enough for the essentials. Try the local olive oil on a slice of toasted bread with tomato, or a plate of snails cooked with herbs, a Lleida favourite.