From Finca al-manzil to Montanchez via Garganta de Molinos

One of our favourite hikes, about 12 kms, takes about 3 hours over very varied terrain, a steep climb up the garganta but then fairly level through chestnut woods into Montanchez and then downhill back to the finca.

Winter walk to La Preciosa

One of our favourite walks from Montanchez village to Manfred's olive grove, La Preciosa. It's about 3kms across the sierra on a high slope looking down on Arroyomolinos. It feels like the end of the world, perfect peace and beautiful views. The olive grove is ancient with wonderfully knarled olive trees and a few old fig trees, surrounded by intricately layed stone walls, it's a special refuge and often our picnic spot.
Today the clouds were lying low in the valleys but up above the sun was really bright and warm, the sky a gorgeous luminous blue.

OVER THE SIERRA FROM MONTANCHEZ TO ARROYOMOLINOS- SPECTACULAR WALK

How many times have I done this walk? Maybe 20 or 30 times over 12 years  but it's still very special, not least because of the solitude, usually never meet another person.
Today was extra special with the sound of running water crashing down the mountain and accompanied by nightingales along the way. Because the walk is so secluded with many different natural habitats the bird life and botany are really impressive.

The walk starts in Montanchez and winds its way through 7 kms of the sierra on an ancient path down to Arroyomolinos.
First passing by vineyards and olive groves, through the mossy bosky chestnut wood now in deep cool shade and then out onto the wilder mountainside still smothered in exquisite wild flowers.

The path gets steeper as it approaches the gorge of Arroyomolinos passing by many natural springs on the way and with far distant views of terraced mountainside and way down to the hills beyond the gorge.

At the start of the gorge the first mill building appears, it has been renovated and used as an idyllic retreat, just below there is a torrent of water gushing back down to the main stream.

The path is steep but secure and follows the stream all the way down the gorge. The vegetation is wild and rampant, the ruins of many water mills emerge from the green tangle. A marvelous and unique collection of  mills cascading down the hillside, fascinating and romantic.

The design of the mills is ancient and features a tall stone tower with an acquaduct connecting the tower to a millpond, the mill is powered by the water of the mill pond being guided along the acquaduct and then crashing down the tall tower onto the paddles which turn the millstones, the water then flows back to the main stream and the next mill.

The base of the gorge  widens into meadows and olive groves on the outskirts of Arroyomolinos where there is a wooded path along the lower slope of the sierra all the way back to Finca al-manzil, about another 2kms on level ground

RESERVA NACIONAL DE CAZA DEL CIJARA

Cijara is one of the wildest and most remote areas of Extremadura, situated in Caceres province on the border with Castillo La Mancha. It covers a huge area of 25.000 hectares with just one or two villages situated near the lake but mainly huge areas with nothing but water and deep pine and cork oak woods. It is a hunting reserve, the wild boar, deer and game birds are prolific, whilst walking on the many walking trails there are usually sightings of deer, the wild boar are more secretive and usually nocturnal. Bird life is amazing with birds of prey and many water species.

A wonderful day out but take a picnic as there are no cafés or restaurants anywhere on the winding narrow roads.

This is one of the trails through the woods and fabulous rock formations covered in vivid green lichen.

Needless to say we had the trails all to ourselves even on this gorgeous spring day

GRANADILLA - A TRAGEDY WITH A HAPPY ENDING

The remote village of Granadilla, north west of Plasencia has a unique format made by the 9th century Moorish walls which completely surround the 250 dwellings in a circular form. The streets of the village radiate from a central plaza. It was a stopping place on the Via de la Plata with mule trains and carts crossing the River Alagón on the ancient bridge.



The Christian reconquest reclaimed this part of Extremadura in the middle of the 13th century and in 1473 the Duques de Alba built the substantial fortified tower which forms part of the walls next to the main portal. For centuries the remote village survived within the walls, unusually never extending beyond except for some scattered barns. The villagers supported themselves by working their extensive lands down in the valley of the Alagón river, olives, crops and lifestock, fish from the river and hunting the prolific game in the surrounding forests, within the walls were lush vegetable gardens and fruit orchards. By the beginning of the 20th century there was an infant school, a visiting doctor and the post arrived at the river crossing bridge, a bar-café was established in the plaza, the church remained the social centre with many religious fiestas throughout the year. As in many Extremeno villages modernity never arrived, no electricity, piped water, sewage disposal but life went on until a fateful day in 1955 when the village was doomed to extinction.

The Franco government initiated plans for creating a huge reservoir in the fertile Alagón river valley below the village. The land, 4683 hectares, was forcibly expropriated by the government, it was the livlihood of the village, without the land it was difficult for the villagers to survive and most of them had to move away. The work on the dam started and was completed in 1961, the future embalse was named Gabriele y Galán after the poet. The valley was slowly inundated covering the old cementary and also the bridge over the Alagón river, the only access to the village.


In 1965 the houses of the village were also expropriated, the engineers in charge of the project calculated that the village was in danger of being drowned by the rising waters of the lake. This seems odd as the village sits on a high bluff and it would be impossible for the lake waters to rise to this height, in fact there has never been even a remote threat, the waters of the reservoir have remained far below the village. The government had agreed to compensate each owner by paying the value of their property only, not any compensation for the destruction of their whole lives. Unbelievably these payments were not made until 1972 , very late and very badly. However, because of this bizarre enforced abandonment, the village avoided any future encroachments of the modern world and was preserved as it was in the 1950s, a sad relic, a folorn ghostly place slowly decaying as the villagers departed, sadly deprived of their homes and the fertile valley where they had cultivated the land for centuries.


In 1980 after 15 years of total abandonment the village was declared as a Conjunto Historico- Artistico, rather late in the day and somewhat cynically, what a pity this hadn’t happened to benefit the needlessly exiled villagers.



In 1985 Grandilla was chosen by the Ministeries of Public Works, Agricultura and Education to be adopted by the association, Programa de Recuperación y Utilización Educativa de Pueblos Abandonados (PRUEPA)

http://www.magrama.gob.es/es/ceneam/programas-de-educacion-ambiental/pueblos-abandonados/

The programme is for the benefit of young students from all over Spain. They stay for a week or two to learn about country life and skills, also helping with the recuperation of the buildings, vegetable gardens, orchards, animal husbandry including chickens, goats, cows and horses.I was amused by a group of girls being directed by one of the "monitores", they were in a meadow with very elaborate chicken coops, the chickens had been free ranging in a large area with bushes and trees but it was time to get them back in the coops, the girls were sent to the boundaries of the meadow and started to clap and scrabble in the undergrowth to flush out the chickens, they slowly advanced clapping away, it was all so jolly and they were having fun, good to see kids not umbilically attached to their mobiles. There were bread making and various country skill workshops going on in one of the renovated buildings, the kids looked happy and relaxed and why not? A great experience for them.






The programme started in Granadilla in 1990 and since then much good work has been done especially with the beautifully tended gardens, many of the houses have been renovated and put to use as accommodation and social areas for the on- going student incentive.












Many of the original owners of the houses have now died or heirs have disappeared, since the village was not drowned and has survived it seems unfair that the ex-villagers and their heirs should not have some priviledges, in fact they are allowed to celebrate some religious fiestas and I beleive there is still a group of original owners who are allowed to live in the village at some times of the year but to come back and live there on a permanent basis would be problematic. There are strict rules about the running of the village, admirable for the visitor but difficult for everyday living e.g. no cars are allowed to enter the only gate in the surrounding walls but must park outside the walls, the agriculture is strictly ecological, there are limited times for visiting, a bell is tolled to indicate when the gate will be locked, there is not a single social meeting point, shop, bar or café. Granadilla is an enchanting sanctuary of peace and beautifully organized agriculture but it is not a living village anymore.

We enjoyed the visit, an interesting and poignant experience, maybe there are a few ghosts wandering around the cobbled streets with now renovated houses painted in vivid colours as was traditional for this area.





We particularly enjoyed the walk encircling the village on the Moorish wall, looking down into the carefully tended gardens and animal pens, vistas of the lake and mountains, the vast water area the very reason for the sad recent history but now certainly giving the village a spectacular location on its peninsular surrounded by an endless forest of pine woods replanted to replace the disastrous Eucalyptus plantations of Franco’s era. The castle tower has a viewing platform with even more panoramic views towards Los Gredos and the Sierra de Francia.






Outside the stunning circular wall there are endless walks around the lake or into the pine forest, we ate our picnic in the cool shade near the water, tranquility for reflecting on the fate of Granadilla and it’s present day destiny.







Don't forget the opening times!