Alcalá de Júcar

We were woken up early this morning by the digger returning at 7am.
I didn’t mind to much as we had already said we’d be in the move early. Today was my 50th birthday so after opening cards and presents and getting a video message from Expedition Unknowns Josh Gates, at 8:30am we rolled out.
We decided to skip 2 major hikes and a couple of sleepovers due to the heavy rain last night and we took a 150 mile drive to the ancient town of Alcalá de Júcar nestled deep in the mountains.
I had obviously seen this place on La Vuelta judging by the switchbacks and huge decent we took to get into here and I’m really glad I saved this place.

Alcalá de Júcar dates back to the year 0. It’s over 2000 years old and people were living in the mouths of caves in wooden structures first before chiselling out the cave houses we see today.
It’s an amazing town built on the side of a mountain and the streets are just wide enough to 2 horses side by side up them.
So how do the residents move around now?
Quad bikes. Even the older generation.
We visited the home of a very famous Spanish bullfighter called El Diablo, infact he actually let us in when I tried the door. It was an amazing. Cave house with lots of historical artifacts mainly to do with farming and the famous people he had met over the years including Salvador Dali.
From there we visited the castle, which had been structurally restored and stands proud at the very top of the town.
We got back to Wanda just after 5pm for dinner and then waited for it to get dark and head back out to get some shots of the town lit up. It looked really pretty.Read more