Inland from Benidorm, barely half an hour from the high-rise towers and the beach crowds, the mountains of Alicante rise steeply and the whole mood changes. The Port de Confrides is the saddle on the CV-70 between the Guadalest valley and the upland basin of Confrides and Benasau, with the long limestone wall of the Sierra de Aitana to the south. Aitana, at 1,558 metres, is the highest peak in the province, and on a clear winter morning you can see the sea glittering behind you as you climb.
The label refers to a rock shelter near the pass, one of many in these mountains holding prehistoric paintings. The eastern Spanish ranges are rich in schematic and Levantine rock art, recognized together as a World Heritage Site, and some shelters around here are linked by walking trails. The marks are small and faded, red ochre on pale rock, and they reward patience and a pair of good eyes more than a quick glance from the road. Most are protected, so respect fences and signs.
The CV-70 is the reason many riders come at all. From Polop or Callosa d'en Sarrià it climbs past Guadalest, the castle village perched on a rock pinnacle, and then threads a long sequence of bends up to the pass and on towards Alcoy. The surface is mostly good, the curves are varied and well sighted, and the scenery of terraced almond orchards and bare crags is constant entertainment. On weekends you will share it with a lot of local riders, some of them very quick, and cyclists training in the hills; tourist coaches crawl up to Guadalest at midday. Early morning is golden here.
Confrides and Benifato are small villages; fuel is better found down in Callosa d'en Sarrià on the coast side, or in Cocentaina and Alcoy inland. Roadside restaurants on the CV-70 serve hearty mountain food, and you may find olleta, a thick stew of beans and pork, on winter menus. In winter the pass can see snow and ice, which surprises visitors who think of this coast as eternal summer. In spring the almond blossom has gone, but the hillsides are full of wild thyme and rosemary, and the smell drifting through an open visor is reason enough to slow down.