Ontiñena is a small farming village on the Alcanadre river, at the edge of the Monegros, the dry, wind-scoured steppe of central Aragón. Out in the ravines around it, prehistoric people left painted figures in rock shelters, among them the site labelled Mallata C, one of the many small components of the UNESCO listing of Mediterranean rock art. The paintings are small, simple and best seen with a local guide, and the walk there crosses a landscape that seems built for epic films: gypsum hills, eroded gullies and wide skies.
Despite the barren reputation, life clusters along the rivers. The Alcanadre and the nearby Cinca support irrigated orchards and fields, and the contrast with the dry hills above is striking. A few kilometres away at Villanueva de Sigena stands the Royal Monastery of Santa María de Sijena, founded in the twelfth century by the Aragonese royal family for noblewomen of the Order of St John. Its story is turbulent, including a fire during the Civil War and a long legal battle over its art. The theologian Miguel Servet, burned in Geneva for heresy in 1553, was born in Villanueva de Sigena, and there is a small museum in his family home.
The riding is about space rather than curves. Long straight roads cross gentle hills, with few villages and very little traffic, and the light at dawn and sunset turns the earth into shades of gold and pink. Wind can be strong, especially the cierzo, which blows hard from the northwest across these plains, and summer heat is intense, regularly topping forty degrees. In winter, morning fog can settle along the river valleys.
Ontiñena and the nearby villages have bars but limited services; for reliable fuel, head to larger towns such as Fraga or Binéfar. Carry water at all times. Local cooking leans on lamb, the Ternasco de Aragón, roasted with potatoes, and the irrigated land around Fraga is famous for its figs. Bring sun protection, as shade is in short supply away from the riverbanks.