Each of the Petracos shelters has its own character, and the fifth is neither the largest nor the best known. It is a place for people who have already looked at the others and want to understand what was repeated. Hunting, for instance: the Levantine painters were fascinated by it, and the art of this region is full of archers, goats, deer and boars, drawn with a quick, clear line. Over time, other peoples came to the same walls and added their own signs, which look very different, abstract and geometric, and the Pla de Petracos is one of the few places where you can see both side by side.
The plateau lies above the Vall de Castells, four kilometres from the village of Castell de Castells, and the road up from the coast is one of the finest in northern Alicante. It leaves the orange groves of Callosa d'en Sarrià, climbs through almond terraces and then runs along the valley with views of the Serrella. The bends are tight in places but open in others, and the surface is mostly good. Cyclists use the road a lot, so expect to share it. Early autumn, when the heat has eased and the air is clear, is the best time.
Vall d'Ebo is another few kilometres away and has a history that is a little haunting: after 1609, when the Moriscos were expelled, the valley was almost empty, and the terraces were cultivated again by settlers from other regions. Pego, eleven kilometres off, has fuel, cafés and the wetland of the Marjal. The villages on the plateau offer a coffee at best.
When you visit the shelters, remember that fences and signs are there for good reason, and that a drop of water or a touch of a hand can damage pigment that has survived millennia. Take a hat, plenty of water and good shoes.