Moclín

Pinos Puente is a sad town. It has so much potential, but it looks like its inhabitants don't take pride in living in the town. The Camino goes over a nice bridge, but the surrounds are dirty.

The first 5 or so km are on roads, in town, and also as you leave town, until you reach Cortijo Búcor, which, in it's heyday must have been a successful farm. From then on, we walked through olive groves, on nice gravel tracks, enjoying the day.

We arrived at Olivares at about 11:30 am, and then the beautiful part of the day started. From Olivares to Moclín, there's only about 4km, but the elevation is over 400 metres. In places, the oath was steep, but our reward was the view!

And as we're climbing the last few metres, as the path levels out, the castle of Moclín comes into view. Perched high over the village, it looks amazing. We entered the village and then kept climbing to get to the church. We could see flags and decorations. We happened to be in the village for one of the days of the Romería del Cristo del Paño. The Cristo del Paño is a painting, gifted to the village by the Reyes Católicos in the 15th century. It is supposed to have cured the sacristan of his cataracts a century later. The disease was known as as the cloth disease, or "enfermedad del paño", hence the name.

The church was overflowing with people. Whilst we were at the church, which is right at the top of the village, we decided we would see if we could visit the castle. It was an interesting visit. The aljibe is virtually still intact, but much of the rest is in ruins, with most of the damage caused during the civil war.

We're staying at Casa la Cabra, owned by a British couple, Steve and Sarah. We're in a very comfortable and well equipped studio apartment. They suggested 3 places for lunch. We picked one, the Bar Kiosco Nono, where the tapas are €1 each, and the drinks €2 each.Read more