Our grand tour of Southern Spain in a motorhome February 2nd Day twenty Guadix

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Thursday 2nd February Day Nineteen

Should motorhomers stop off in Guadix, Spain?

Up the A92 we go, heading for the turn off to the Calar Alto Observatory. I have always wanted to just go to one and Maggie is mentally preparing herself. Not for seeing the observatories, but for the road ahead. The map shows what she calls ‘varicose vein roads’ – you know the ones – with lots of steep loops and bends, switch backs and roads stacked on top of roads, on top of roads, on cliff faces! 

Several things strike me as we drive up. Firstly, how Bryony’s engine tone and pulling power change as we climb. Her ‘grunt pulling power’ goes down and we spend much of the trip in second or third gear. Tight ascending bends require second gear. Get it wrong and approach in first, worse, stop on the bend in first and she’ll not pull away. Wheels will spin, the air will turn grey with smoke, but forward movement will not happen!

Then there are the vegetation changes. From desert to a hybrid sort of desert with small trees and scrub bushes and finally a sudden transition to elegant, green pine forests before a final break out at the top into a high alpine mountain, wind-blown landscape of stunted trees and low shrubs between igneous and metamorphic rocky outcrops and their remaining snow patches in northern shadow areas.

Is this gradual but occasionally steep road climb worth it? At an altitude of 7000'+, yes, if you are an astronomer! Fantastic views across the southern coastal Spain ranges, the scent of Pine trees, shining patches of snow and stunning views of the snow-capped Sierra Nevada although it's noticeable how the snow line is very high this year. Not having the greatest of ski seasons, I suspect. 

 The Spanish Astronomical Center at Calar Alto is located in the Sierra de Los Filabres and  is operated jointly by the Junta de Andalucía and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC) in Granada/Spain. Three telescopes with apertures of 1.23m, 2.2m and 3.5m and open use to the general community. Another 1.5m-telescope, also located on the mountain, is operated under the control of the Observatory of Madrid.

From super explosions to projects with observatories in Chile exploring exo-planets and earth like planets across our galaxy, this is one of Europe's top observatories and if we come this way next year, I'm timing the trip to coincide with their open days and amateur astronomers open nights. 

I am such a science geek, strange for a geographer I guess, but throughout my secondary school career I have taught geography to A level and history, science and RS to year ten level. I loved teaching science – science teachers have such fun with experiments!

To stand here now, looking up at these enormous white domes in this clear, clean, freezing air is absolutely fantastic. Maggie is less enthusiastic. She's still recovering from the drive up, dreading the drive back down and is in need of a severe intravenous drip feed of caffeine. But deep down, I know she’s interested. She’s a closeted sci-fi fan!

As we drive back down, my eye is drawn to the stupendous views whilst Maggie's are drawn to the bends, the drops, the lack of roadside crash barriers and the deep treacherous gullies on my kerbside. I'm fascinated by how much freeze thaw rockfall has filled them since we drove up. Clearly ice below rocks has melted in the mid-morning sun and so they are sliding down. Geomorphology in action. Excellent stuff. 

The smell of hot brakes permeates the cab. I'm using second and third gears on the way down to slow our speed. I'm not keeping them on constantly and I'm not going above 30mph, so I handle Bryony gingerly and at the bottom we head for the first services off the A92 ..... a nice petrol station in the sun with a cafe next door. Nerves are soothed, brakes cooled, caffeine fixes obtained and savoured. As were the donuts.

We later cross an enormous high Altiplano plain. Dry, flat, windswept but rather beautiful. Large wind farms and extraordinary solar farms on an enormous scale. They shimmer like an inland salt flat, row upon row upon row of black and silver panels. At the centre of each main farm, a mass of huge silver domes and spaghetti like maze of pipes. Its rather breath taking, if you are a geographer I suppose!  

Guadix provides us a supermarket stop and we come to a halt in the local Aire. It is a huge gravel car park, about 300m long and 100m wide just outside the main shopping streets. Plenty of cafes and restaurants close by.  The cathedral, a five-minute walk away. Be aware that at 5pm, loads of boy racer types screech up in the far corner, banging out their music from fully pumped-up car speakers. They hang out and don't seem to be here to cause trouble. Anyway, I'm battle hardened ..... thirty-five years a form tutor to teenagers ...... this music? Nothing ......impervious to it ..... battle hardened, that’s me!

Guadix. How do you pronounce it? Spanish say "gwadiks". Locals say "wadiks". At 3000' altitude and with a population of around 20,000, it lies at the centre of the Hoya plain. The city is built in an area of bad lands and gullies and is famous for its modern cave houses. It was a major cutlery producing area and now produces hempen goods and hats. Trade is also done in flax, wool, cotton, corn and liqueurs. There are warm thermal springs a few kilometres outside the city which are a major summertime attraction. There is a Roman theatre and it was a roman colony outpost. In the early 700's it became a Moorish fort and trading post.  Surrounding lands are fertile and peach growing is a major agribusiness in the area. Main tourist sites are the Moorish fortress, the cathedral, the theatre and the troglodyte houses. 

https://www.andalucia.com/guadix/home.htm

 

In her effort to save money Mag buys a bottle of cheap Spanish wine at the supermarket. She opens it now at 6pm to discover

a. It's white not red

b. It tastes like sherry ...

c. that’s impossible as it’s a white colour

d. we’ve found our waste tank cleaner alternative to cheap cola 😄

 

By 7pm there are around thirty vans in a long line next to one another and we have discovered why the Spanish park so close together. There is around a motorhome’s width between us and each of our neighbours .... both German, and the boy racers have been driving their cars through the gaps to get to the far side of this car park. Now, I'm finding it irritating. They aren't being a deliberate nuisance. They just can't be bothered to drive around the ends of the motorhome line. This driving through the gaps eventually ceases around 11pm. It isn’t continuous, about one every 20 minutes or so but it's irritating!

Useful information:

Route: A92 – A1178 – A92

Distance: 161 miles

Costs: none

Campsite: https://www.searchforsites.co.uk/marker.php?id=30914

Information about Guadix: https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attractions-g608987-Activities-Guadix_Province_of_Granada_Andalucia.html  and https://www.andalucia.com/guadix/home.htm and https://www.spainthisway.com/places/guadix.php