From Linares de la Sierra to Alájar by the Caracol

What it is

An official trail of the Sierra de Aracena y Picos de Aroche Natural Park between Linares de la Sierra and Alájar, two villages that the Junta includes in the General Catalogue of Andalusian Historic Heritage as historic complexes. The Junta gives this variant via the Caracol 4,410 m each way, about 2 hours and easy difficulty. It ends in Alájar, at the foot of the Peña de Arias Montano, a crag with a hermitage and a viewpoint over the sierra.

The path

It is one of those old paths between villages that are still in use: stone walls separating estates, dehesas of cork oaks and holm oaks, chestnut trees, kitchen gardens on leaving the villages and streams with riverside woodland. It is normal to come across cows or pigs loose on the estates, which are part of the landscape; respect the gates. With luck you will see birds of prey, and in the streams, frogs and newts. Alájar is about 60 metres higher than Linares, so in this direction you climb somewhat more than you descend.

The two villages

Before setting out, take a stroll around Linares de la Sierra. Its name comes from the flax (lino) that was grown in these mountains, and its coat of arms has three flax flowers. The most striking feature is its nearly 300 llanos: patterns in stone, floral or geometric, in the cobbling at the entrance to the houses. It also has the fountain-washhouse, the Fuente Vieja, the church of San Juan Bautista and a multi-use bullring. In Alájar, the Junta highlights the church of San Marcos, from the late 18th century, and the hermitage of Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles, from the 16th, up on the Peña de Arias Montano.

How to organise it

It is a one-way route: leave a car in Alájar or return by the same path. Combined with the Aracena–Linares stretch it makes a full day from village to village. For buses, Casal (954 99 92 90) and Damas (959 25 69 00) operate in the area; check their timetables beforehand, because the return is what most shapes the day. It needs no special authorisation. The Junta recommends carrying drinking water and not relying on springs without checking the water is fit, as well as suitable footwear. The long-distance trail GR-47 also passes through Alájar.

For any question about the state of the trails, the park has its visitor centre in Aracena, the Cabildo Viejo, on plaza Alta (959 12 95 53). With children who like walking it is a good first route because of its easy difficulty and short distance.