Sierra de Cazorla, Segura and Las Villas

The Cazorla, Segura and Las Villas Natural Park is Spain’s largest protected area (over 200,000 hectares) and yet it remains one of the least well-known outside Andalusia. For motorcyclists, this is a godsend: 200,000 hectares mean hundreds of kilometres of challenging roads, good tarmac and the almost absolute guarantee that whichever mountain pass you choose will have less traffic than even the busiest local road in the Pyrenees. The A-319, the backbone of the park, is one of the five best motorcycling roads in Spain, yet hardly anyone from the north knows about it.

These mountain ranges have a geological feature that makes them unique: they are the water reservoir of the southern peninsula. This is where the Guadalquivir, the river that defines Andalusian civilisation, has its source, as does the Segura, the backbone of the arid south-east. The source of the Guadalquivir, at the Cañada de las Fuentes, is a trickle of water that literally springs from a crevice and can be reached by motorbike to a nearby car park. There is something thrilling about the thought that this tiny trickle of water will eventually nourish Seville, Córdoba and Cádiz, five hundred kilometres further west.

The park is home to the largest stand of black pine (Pinus nigra) in Europe, a majestic tree that can live for over 800 years and whose timber was used to build both Philip II’s galleons and the cathedrals of southern Andalusia. A few hundred-year-old specimens can still be seen by the roadside; the most famous, known as the ‘Pino del Acebeas’, has a circumference of over six metres. The density of wildlife is also exceptional: mountain goats, red deer, wild boar, griffon vultures and the last stable population of bearded vultures in the south of the Iberian Peninsula following their reintroduction.

In terms of driving, the A-319 between Empalme del Valle and Coto Ríos is probably the best stretch. A wide road, with tarmac in good condition, continuous bends that flow into one another for 30 km without a single traffic light or major junction, and the Tranco reservoir coming into view on the left whenever the forest clears. It’s one of those roads where a motorcyclist enters a state of total flow and doesn’t want to stop. If you take the climb up to Hornos de Segura (perched above the reservoir on a cliff) and then on to Segura de la Sierra — the highest village in Andalusia at 1,150 m — it makes for a day out you’ll never forget.

An interesting historical fact: Segura de la Sierra was the birthplace of the Renaissance poet Jorge Manrique, author of the ‘Coplas a la muerte de su padre’ (‘Verses on the Death of His Father’), one of the most famous poems in Spanish literature. The house where he was born is still standing. But more useful for motorcyclists is the fact that in Hornos de Segura you’ll find the Mirador del Embalse, a terrace suspended over the void with 270° views of the Tranco Canyon. It’s the perfect place to stop at midday, enjoy a set meal for twelve euros and plan the rest of the route. Make sure to fill up before entering the park: there are only two petrol stations inside, and one of them is usually closed.