2018-09-21 Mora d’Ebro to Albalate del Arzobiso

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Mora d’Ebro to Albalate del Arzobiso

Here at Mora d’Ebro we are woken by the arrival of white vans and the clank of scaffold poles… it is market day and they are setting up on the car park next to where we are parked.

By 9.00am the women of the town are arriving with large bags which they fill with fruit and vegetables, cheese and other goodies. We wander over and buy fresh fruit and vegetables, a soft long scarf each for €1, to cover our necks and a mirror wind chime for the garden at home. We have lunch and plan our next few days driving.

Later we call at Mercadonna (where the management say we are not allowed to take photos of the excellent Iberico hams?? these people don’t seem to realise the impact that positive reviews on google make) and buy cheese, jamon, wine and fresh prawns for tea. The fridge is packed full… a significant point for later.

From Móra d’Ebro we take the N420 through the olive town of Alaceinte to our next planned stop at Alcaňiz. We planned to stop on the Aire, but find the town jam-packed with motor cyclists and heaving with Guarda Civil. We discover that Alcaňiz has an amazing Formula One driving circuit and the bikes are here for the weekend to use it. Every square meter of space is covered with a tent, a van or a motor home. There is even a tent pitched on a triangle of dirt under a tree on the edge of the street, the bikers are sat drinking beer in the shade! Even if there were space we do not want to stay. A quick consult with our online campsite app and we head west on N232 for Hijar and A224 to the small town of Albalate del Arzobispa. The App says it is a small town on top of a high mountain ridge (it is) and very quiet… sounds perfect.

As we drive along in the heat we notice a sign and stop to examine it. This is the Greenwich Meridian, the point from which east west earth measurements are taken. There is a large colourful frame so you can stand on a platform and take photos. The fields are full of ancient olive trees growing in soil that looks more like beach sand. The heat is intense.

Greenwich Meridian in Spain

Except when we arrive there must be 200 cars in the car park and it is 38°C (100F). We see a row of campers at the back and park up with them. An elderly Spanish couple in the next camper are sat outside in the shade, we sit and chat with them and they tell us it is Fiesta weekend with bull running through the town today (Friday) tomorrow Saturday and Sunday. Fiesta means party… all night! We are tired and have travelled about 280km and need to rest so decide we had better stay besides, bull running through the town sounds fun.

They do not speak any English but are quite animated as they tell us there is a proper bull ring at the top of the hill and the bull running begins from there. We look up and can see it from where we sit, there are already hordes of people up there and more walking up the hill! Our Spanish couple thinks the music goes on till 2.00am and we decide we can cope with that. We sit and chat with them (in Spanish) for about an hour, they are delightful and give us a copy of their booklet of all Spanish campsites with maps. We drink a bottle of white Priorat wine and have a light supper of omelette. It is almost dusk when we walk up to the very narrow and steep streets.

When we come to a gate across the road we climb through, but the young Spanish people get very concerned and shout ‘el torro’ at us and beckon us back. Ah, we understand, the bulls run down here which is why there are gates! We wait with them and sure enough after about 15 minutes there is a lot of noise and about 6 young bulls come careering down the hill followed by a small group of young men yelling and shouting chasing them down the narrow street. It is only a few seconds and they are gone. There is certainly an adrenalin rush all round.

We thank our Spanish acquaintances and make our way up hill to the bull ring. The bull ring could be a miniature version of the Roman amphitheatre we saw earlier in Tarragona, perhaps the Spanish copied their early Roman settlers! Just outside the bullring is the party to beat all parties. Live music amplified and very loud and young people ready to dance all night… and they do.

We go back to the camper and go to bed around midnight (late for us) but the music doesn’t stop, it carries on until 6.00am. We finally fall into a deep sleep for a couple of hours but feel like we did when we had small children and had been up all night.