Sitting in the high interior of Albacete, the Molino de Capel is a mill name, and the shelter marked Molino de Capel II lies in the countryside near the Río Segura, fourteen kilometres from Moratalla across the border in Murcia. Rivers are the vital organs of this dry land. The Segura, which rises in the Sierra de Segura in Jaén and runs over four hundred kilometres to the Mediterranean at Guardamar, is thin and green at its edges and brown and tired by the end of its course, but here in the headwaters it is still lively.
The painted shelters of Moratalla and its surroundings are some of the best-known in Spain. The area has an unusual density of Levantine art, with scenes of hunting and gathering, and the whole group is part of the Mediterranean rock art that UNESCO recognised in 1998. A few of the Moratalla shelters have viewing platforms and a visitor centre in the town.
Riding here has a quiet, northern character, though the sun is southern. The roads follow the river valley, with gentle bends and long views over irrigated orchards, and on the heights above you meet pine forest and rough grazing land. Traffic is very light. In summer, early morning is wise, because the temperature in the valley can pass forty degrees, while in winter the ridges are sometimes dusted with snow and the road shadows hold ice well into the day.
Moratalla is the town to aim for. It has about eight and a half thousand people, a castle on a conical hill and a reputation for a Holy Week festival in which hundreds of drummers play through the night. You will find fuel, supermarkets and several simple restaurants serving rice and local lamb, and the old streets are good for a wander before you set off again. Take water and a map, because mobile reception drops out in the narrow valleys and the tracks to the shelters are not marked on most road atlases.