El Rey de Andalusia

The Parque Natural de las Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas in Andalusia, southern Spain played host to this year’s Spanish hike-and-fly championship in early June. It became clear to me just how wild the area is as I drove three-and-a-half hours inland from Alicante in the dead of night. Wild and twisting mountain roads, towns and villages few and far between and the eerie nature of the never-ending dark forests left me questioning when I might see civilisation again. 

Thankfully, after a few close calls with the abundance of local wildlife, I made it to Hornos in the early hours. After a game of front-door lottery in a sea of white buildings, I was glad to be greeted by the organisers the next morning, coffee at the ready, and thankfully, in the right house!  

As daylight broke and the team rallied to the start, I caught a glimpse of what the competitors were to face. Classic Spanish white-walled villages, typical of the area, perched high on rocky outcrops. These settlements,...