The old town hanging over the gorge, from the bridge to the bullring

Alcalá del Júcar clings to the slope of a rock in a bend of the Júcar, with whitewashed houses climbing up to the castle. The Albacete Provincial Council suggests starting the visit at the so-called Roman bridge, a restored medieval structure that was a crossing on the Royal Road from Castile to the Levante, and crossing it towards the church of San Andrés, dating from the 15th to the 18th centuries, and the bullring, irregular in plan and rebuilt in 1902.

From there, climb the steep streets and stairs towards the castle, looking at the façades of the cave houses dug into the rock. The village has been a historic-artistic site since 1982. Wear comfortable shoes: almost everything is uphill.

The bridge and the lower part

The bridge was an obligatory crossing of the Royal Road between Castile and the Levante, and in the 14th and 15th centuries it functioned as a dry port, that is, a customs post where a charge was made for goods passing through. Floods on the Júcar forced it to be repaired several times; the last restoration, in 1990, replaced the coping and paved it with natural Alcalá stone, the work of the Workshop School's stonemasonry workshops. From the bridge you get the classic photo of the village, with the rock, the houses and the castle above.

The bullring is on the other side of the river, on the slope. It is not known when it was built; it was rebuilt in 1902 for bullfights and theatre performances, and its irregular plan makes it unique. The parish church of San Andrés combines works from the 15th to the 18th centuries and has a single nave in the shape of a Latin cross.

The climb to the castle

From the church the slope begins. The streets are narrow, with flights of steps, and do not admit cars. On the way you come across the façades of the cave houses, which go into the rock and in some cases cross it entirely; several can be visited, such as the Devil's Caves and the caves of King Garadén, above the church, or the Masagó Caves, on Calle Libertad. At the very top is the castle, with the view over the whole bend.

With stops, the walk takes about an hour and a half; if you go into the caves and the castle, allow half a day. In summer, it is best early in the morning or at dusk.

At night

Alcalá is proud of its lighting: in 1986 it received third prize for the best artistic illumination, behind the Eiffel Tower and the Great Mosque of Istanbul. It is worth going back to the bridge at nightfall to see the village lit up above the river.

Parking and combining

The association Los Pueblos Más Bonitos de España, which Alcalá has belonged to since 2014, points to a regulated car park beside the river, on Avenida de los Robles, cash payment; confirm the rate on the sign. The Tourist Office is at Paseo de los Robles 1. If you have time to spare, the river offers another view of the village: the canoe trips on the Júcar leave from Alcalá itself.