Mequinenza sits where three rivers meet. The Segre and the Cinca flow into the Ebro here, and the town has lived by them for centuries, first as a river port and a fortress with a Gothic castle, then as a coal-mining town, with lignite dug from the hills and shipped by barge. In the 1960s, the Ebro was dammed downstream and a huge reservoir, now known as the Mar de Aragón, flooded the valley and swallowed much of the old town. Its people moved to a new town above the water, and the old streets lie under it. It is a poignant story, and locals have not forgotten it.
Vallbufandes lies about a kilometre and a half from the town, and its shelter is a painted site of the Levantine tradition, protected with other rock art of eastern Spain by UNESCO. As elsewhere, the paintings are small and fragile, so take care and keep to paths.
The landscape is surprising: a semi-desert of pale hills, dry gullies, and thyme-scented scrub, with the blue-green reservoir like an inland sea in between. Fishermen come from all over Europe for the catfish, which grow to huge sizes in these waters, and the town is known as a fishing destination. In summer it is very hot and dry, and the wind can be strong, particularly in the afternoon.
For riders, the area has an unusual charm. The roads around Mequinenza wind through the arid hills with good views over the water, and the nearby stretches along the reservoir have enough bends to make them fun. Surfaces are generally good, and traffic is light, though lorries use the main roads. The border between Aragón and Catalonia is close, and you may cross it without noticing.
Mequinenza has around two and a half thousand people, with fuel and food, including some excellent local fish dishes, and Fraga, about sixteen kilometres away, is a bigger town of more than fourteen thousand, with every service. Fill up in either before heading into the hills.