Nerpio is a high village in the far southwest of Albacete province, about eleven hundred metres above sea level, and Mingarnao is one of the names scattered across the countryside around it. The shelter, Mingarnao II, is one of dozens in the Nerpio area that make up a notable concentration of rock paintings. Several have been found here, and some show Levantine figures and others show later schematic signs, a mixture that makes the area unusual.
Nerpio feels remote, because it is. The road from Letur and Moratalla climbs for a long time through pine forest, with passes at around a thousand metres and not much traffic, and the surface changes with the weather: in winter the shady corners are slick with frost, and in spring meltwater washes grit across the lanes. The scenery is huge and empty, with mountains in layers going off to the east. Few places in Spain offer such a calm road with so little to disturb you but an occasional farm truck.
The altitude is the quiet character of the place. Cold winters, short springs and high-summer evenings that call for a jumper make Nerpio an unusual place for the south of Spain. Apple, cherry and almond trees grow on the terraces, and people here are used to making the most of a short season. Wild boar, deer and golden eagles live in the forests, and at dusk the sky over the high plateau is full of swifts and kites.
Nerpio itself has about sixteen hundred people, so you can probably find a bar for coffee and a simple lunch, but planning for fuel is another matter. The reliable options are Yeste, twenty-two kilometres to the north, a town of about three and a half thousand, or Huéscar in Granada province, further south and east. Fill the tank before climbing up from either side, carry water, and keep in mind that mobile signal is patchy in the folded country between the villages.