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
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