Les Garrigues is the dry, stony corner of western Catalonia, south-east of Lleida, a land of low hills, terraced olive groves, almond trees and stone huts, where the light is hard and the summers are hot. Roques Guàrdies II is a rock shelter in these hills near Juneda and Arbeca, with traces of prehistoric paintings in the Levantine style, part of the World Heritage site of rock art in the Mediterranean Basin of the Iberian Peninsula.
The most famous rock art site in the area is the Roca dels Moros at El Cogul, a short ride south-west, where figures of women dancing around a man, as well as animals and hunters, were painted on the walls of a shelter thousands of years ago. It was one of the first Levantine sites to be studied, in the early twentieth century, and it has an interpretation centre. Roques Guàrdies is more modest, but it shares the same landscape and the same sense of the deep past.
Arbeca is the home of the Arbequina olive, a small, fruity variety now grown worldwide, and the olive groves around the town produce some of the best oil in Catalonia, sold under the Les Garrigues designation of origin. The village has a ruined castle and a pleasant old centre. Juneda and the other villages in the area are small and quiet, with churches, squares and cafés.
The riding here is pleasant and relaxed. The roads are mostly flat or gently rolling, with good surfaces and little traffic, winding through olive groves and almond orchards. To the south, the hills become steeper as you approach the Serra de la Llena and the Priorat, with its famous wine villages and twisting mountain roads. Summer is very hot, so ride early or late, and carry plenty of water. Spring, when the almond trees blossom, is especially beautiful.
Juneda, about six kilometres away, has fuel and basic services. Mollerussa and Les Borges Blanques are larger towns nearby, and Lleida, the provincial capital, is about twenty minutes away. The Garrigues is also known for its snails, cooked a la llauna, grilled on a metal tray, and for calçots, sweet green onions grilled over a fire and dipped in romesco sauce, eaten in late winter and spring.