SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Hidden Spain, by JD

Travel writers sometimes tell us to step back from the Costas and seek out something different but usually they direct us to the big cities where we can spend even more money.

There is an alternative, a hidden Spain, well off the beaten track but you need a guide and if you are with somebody who knows then there are some beautiful places hidden away “far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife.”

One such place is the Cañón del Río Lobos in the province of Soria (Castilla y León) and this really is in the heart of Spain a long way from the usual tourist trails.

After parking the car, we set off following the course of the river along the pathway among the trees. We exchange greetings with a shepherd and step to one side for him as he moves his flock of about 200 or so raggedy looking sheep (not bred for their wool by the look of them.)

And on we walked for about two miles, still following the river and seeing some of the resident colony of griffon vultures flying above the walls of the canyon. Then we came into a large clearing…. this picture was ‘borrowed’ from Google maps:

….and in the distance the San Bartolomé Hermitage. A small chapel, literally miles from anywhere, which is all that remains of the monastery said to have been built by the Templars in the 13th century. Because it was winter at the time of our visit the Hermitage was locked so we could not see inside.

To the right of the picture is la Cueva Grande, the largest of many caves in the valley and this one has a few rock carvings and cave paintings showing evidence of occupation of this area dating back to the bronze age.

This next picture is also from Google Maps. It is not a painting. It really does look like that, blue and gold striation. Very psychedelic especially in the sunshine.

A magical place and I thank my friends in Spain for taking me to see it. It is probably 20 or even 30 years ago when we were there (as long ago as that?) and at that time it was a hidden valley with few visitors.

But in the intervening years it has been added to the list of tourist attractions persuading visitors to explore inland Spain so there is now this link with a substantial amount of information in English – https://www.cañondelriolobos.com/rio-lobos-canyon/basic-information.html

There is also this BBC link which has a short video in Spanish but with English subtitles giving more information about the link to The Templars as well as the precise location of the Hermitage which is in the exact centre of the Iberian peninsula:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/reel/video/p08q45rj/why-did-the-templars-mark-this-mysterious-spot-on-the-map-