Malforá III is the third in a trio of shelters that share a name, and the neighbouring village of Alquézar, four kilometres away, is the base for all of them. The shelters lie among the dry terraces and oak scrub on the northern side of the valley, and they are part of the Levantine rock art of the Spanish Mediterranean, protected by UNESCO since 1998. If you have already seen the first two, you may wonder why the early painters kept returning to the same patch of rock. The answer is probably the position: sheltered from the north wind, facing the midday sun and looking over a wide stretch of country.
Standing on that hillside you can see the shape of the Somontano, the foot of the mountain. The Pyrenees are the high wall to the north, the Sierra de Guara is the first broken step in front of them, and the plain of the Ebro opens to the south, patched with vines and cereals. The land was a natural crossing place between the mountain and the plain, with seasonal routes for people and animals, and it still is. Today the paths have become roads, and the roads are a pleasure to ride.
The best of them, from Barbastro to Alquézar and beyond to Colungo, runs for about forty kilometres of continuous interest. It begins with smooth, flowing bends in the wine country, then tightens as the valley closes, then relaxes again toward the head of the gorge. Many riders pair it with a day on the Guara's southern roads, around Bierge and Rodellar, which add climbs and canyons. Late April and October are the sweetest months.
It also has several cooperative wineries that sell by the bottle, and the local Somontano wines are reasonably priced and approachable. In Alquézar you can find simple meals and coffee, and the village is a good place to watch the sunset over the canyon. Bring water if you plan to walk, and watch the sky if clouds are building.