Cycle Touring in Spain. Harry Dowdell

Stage 1 Almería airport to Alhama de Almería

       Stage 2 Alhama de Almería to Bayárcal

       Stage 3 Bayárcal to Capileira

       Stage 4 Capileira to Granada

       Stage 5 Granada to Alhama de Granada

       Stage 6 Alhama de Granada to Colmenar

       Stage 7 Colmenar to Málaga airport

       Option 1 Bayárcal to Granada

       Option 2 Pampaneira to Alhama de Granada

       Route 4 Sierra Morena

       Stage 1 Sevilla to Almadén de la Plata

       Stage 2 Almadén de la Plata to Cazalla de la Sierra

       Stage 3 Cazalla de la Sierra to Ojuelos Altos

       Stage 4 Ojuelos Altos to Hornachuelos

       Stage 5 Hornachuelos to Córdoba

       Option 1 El Pedroso to Hornachuelos

       Option 2 Cazalla–El Pintado loop

       Route 5 Sierras de Gredos and Guadarrama

       Stage 1 Madrid–Barajas airport to Navalcarnero

       Stage 2 Navalcarnero to Piedralaves

       Option 1 Navalcarnero to Piedralaves via the Vía Verde del Alberche and San Martin de Valdeiglesias

       Stage 3 Piedralaves to Burgohondo via the Collado de Serranillos

       Stage 4 Burgohondo to Ávila

       Stage 5 Ávila to Segovia

       Stage 6 Segovia to Cercedilla

       Stage 7 Cerceda to Madrid-Barajas airport

       Route 6 Madrid to Bilbao via the Sierra de la Demanda

       Stage 1 Madrid–Barajas airport to Cogolludo

       Stage 2 Cogolludo to Galve de Sorbe

       Stage 3 Galve de Sorbe to San Esteban

       Stage 4 San Esteban to Quintanar

       Stage 5 Quintanar to Anguiano

       Stage 6 Anguiano to Miranda

       Stage 7 Miranda to Amurrio

       Stage 8 Amurrio to Bilbao

       Option 1 Najerilla valley to Santo Domingo

       Option 2 Sierra de la Demanda loop

       Route 7 Los Pireneos

       Stage 1 San Sebastián to Leitza

       Stage 2 Leitza to Auritz/Burguete

       Stage 3 Auritz/Burguete to Ansó

       Stage 4 Ansó to Jaca

       Stage 5 Jaca to Broto

       Stage 6 Broto to Campo

       Stage 7 Campo to Pont de Suert

       Stage 8 Pont de Suert to Tremp

       Stage 9 Tremp to Coll de Nargó

       Stage 10 Coll de Nargó to Berga

       Stage 11 Berga to Olot

       Stage 12 Olot to Girona airport

       Option 1 Hernani to Leitza

       Option 2 Olot to Anglès

       Route 8 Picos de Europa

       Stage 1 Llanes to Cangas de Onis

       Stage 2 Cangas de Onis to Posada de Valdeón

       Stage 3 Posada de Valdeón to Potes

       Stage 4 Potes to Llanes

       Option 1 Puerto de Pandetrave to Potes

       Option 2 Puertos de Aliva loop

       Option 3 Covadonga

       Further reading

       Appendix 1 Temperatures and Rainfall

       Appendix 2 Sunrise and Sunset Times

       Appendix 3 Language Notes

       Appendix 4 Travelling to Spain

       Appendix 5 Spanish Airports: Routes and Maps

       Appendix 6 Car Hire Companies

       Appendix 7 Organised Cycle Holiday Companies

      Alberche valley and Sierra de Gredos from Sierra de la Paramera

      INTRODUCTION

      Spain, with Portugal, occupies that mountainous square of south-west Europe known as the Iberian Peninsula. It is a country of variety and contrasts for which many claims are made, but one thing is certain: Spain offers some of the best cycling available in Europe.

      Forget the non-stop coastal resorts built for packaged pleasure. The cyclist’s Spain is not that of the costas, those narrow coastal strips trapped between mountains and sea where millions head for their summer holidays, but of the country where Spaniards actually live, work and play. A world of villages, small towns and vibrant cities, wooded hills and snow-capped mountains, wide valleys and narrow gorges, immense plains, Moorish palaces, Roman ruins and Gothic cathedrals, cave paintings and the works of Picasso, El Greco and Dali, sunshine and warmth, orange and olive groves, small shops and family hotels, a place of history and constant reinvention where Europe and Africa meet; a country that, in short, rewards its visitors.

Roads

      Spain is almost as large as France, considerably bigger than Germany, and more than twice the size of the United Kingdom. Spain would take third place in a league table of the American states, behind Texas but ahead of California. The population density is higher than that of the Scandinavian countries, but one-third that of the United Kingdom and Germany and one-sixth that of the Netherlands.

      As a result Spanish roads are far quieter than those of most other European countries. A spate of recent and ongoing road building means that much of the heavy traffic keeps to the newer, more convenient roads, leaving cyclists to share the old ones with local traffic. Not that ‘heavy traffic’ in rural areas is a particular problem; on mountain roads no more than five cars per hour can be expected.

      Road surfaces are generally very good. The vast majority of new and upgraded roads include a metre-wide lined strip suitable for cycling where traffic is heavy, but otherwise the main carriageways are fine. Regional dual carriageways have a wide hard shoulder for cycling and many have cycle lanes with a specially prepared surface.

      The general standard of driving is very good. Motorists do tend to bide their time and wait for a safe place to pass, though a suitable spot can take an embarrassingly long time to materialise. Only mopeds and scooters tend to be a noisy annoyance. Police clampdowns