Where the Ebro and the Segre meet near Mequinenza, the rivers have been dammed into two long reservoirs, and the result is a strange, beautiful landscape of blue water filling deep valleys among dry, terraced hills. The rock shelters of Mas de Patriciel lie in the hills between Mequinenza, Nonaspe and Fayón, part of the network of painted sites that UNESCO listed as the Mediterranean rock art of Iberia.
The dams changed everything here. Old Mequinenza, a town of coal miners and river boatmen, was flooded in the 1970s and rebuilt higher up; its museums in the old town site tell the story of the lost town and its lignite mines. At Fayón, the bell tower of the old church still stands out of the water of the Riba-roja reservoir, a ghost of the village that was drowned, and it is one of the most photographed sights on the lower Ebro. The reservoirs are now famous among anglers for wels catfish, huge fish introduced decades ago that can grow to over two metres long, and you will see fishing camps and boats along the shores.
The riding here is pleasant and quiet, with the reservoirs providing constant scenery. The roads follow the water and climb into the hills with good curves and wide views, and traffic outside the towns is light. Surfaces are mostly good, and the area is easy to combine with the Matarraña country to the south, with its stone villages and gorges. Wind can be strong, and summer heat makes midday riding unpleasant.
Mequinenza, with about two and a half thousand people, has fuel, shops and restaurants, and Caspe, twenty two kilometres away, has more. Nonaspe and Fayón are small villages with limited services. In the restaurants, look for fish from the river, local olive oil and peaches in season, and the hearty cuisine of Lower Aragon, with lamb and game dishes.