Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

MAL ROGERShikes, saunters, ambles, climbs and siestas his way through the largest region of Spain – and barely meets a soul along the way

YOU COME to it rather unexpectedly. Just around a bend on a lonely road, and there she is – El Picacho, some 2,500ft of limestone, shimmering purple in the afternoon sun.