Day 4: Montellano to Frontera

Montellano to Frontera 41kms

After two Michelin starred restaurant dinners in a row, it was lucky that we were not expecting much from breakfast this morning. I did manage to steal a bread roll and one piece of cheese for a snack along the way, as no cafes would be available.

The planned route of 69 kms had to be changed as landslides during the winter had cut access to the rail trail we were supposed to ride on. So, happily we set off in a van with the e-bikers we had encountered the day before. There were a couple of long climbs, but the worst was saved until last. When the white village of Frontera came into view, after an exhilarating 58 kph ride down a mountain, I knew it was going to be gruelling.

Up at the very top of the village, right beside the church, sits our parador hotel. To get to it involves cobblestones, narrow streets, dodging cars and oh, did I mention steepness? So steep in fact, that we had to walk the last two hundred meters.

Anyway, we made it, only to find that our room was not ready. So we amused ourselves by having lunch in a side street and watching the passing cars nearly collide with the walls.

The church (absolutely right beside our room) rings its bell every fifteen minutes. Can't wait for a good night's sleep.

Pics

More and more olive trees with an unnamed Andalucian village in the distance which we did not get the chance to visit.

Now here's an idea. Instead of building huge greenhouses which cost a boat load of money, create some mini greenhouses with plastic wrapped around some wire supports. I wonder if it works?

An unusual site. First lake we have encountered. Also, first village we have seen not on or near a hilltop.

Now that's more like it. Coming down the hill at 60 klm per hour, we didn't get a chance to appreciate our first view of Arcos de la Frontera.

That hill. About 3 Klms long.

A couple of the famous Andalucian stallions getting a good feed prior to some prancing, no doubt.

Has anyone ever counted the number of historic churches in Europe? I just can't get my head around all of the man hours that would have gone into creating these buildings. There must have been tens of thousands of skilled stonemasons across Europe at any one time during the medieval and renaissance.

Somehow all of these buildings fit into the streetscape. This is an alleyway at the back of the church.

A sheer drop of about 200 metres to the valley floor below, the Paradores de Arcos de la Frontera sits precariously right on the very edge of the cliff.

The valley floor, this time with a river. There haven't been many rivers.

You figure it out. I can't.

Thousands of individually cut pieces of stone make up the ceiling of this church. I know, it's mad.

It only took about 38 years to build this altar. You can imagine discussions between the builders and the Church. Client:  "You said it would be finished by Christmas!" Builder: "Ï didn't say which Christmas."

A doozy of an organ. Unfortunately we didn't get to hear it in action.

Ride Notes

• This map is from our tour company
• We didn't ride the first 25 klms of the journey as  the railtrail that we were supposed to spend most of that on, suffered some extreme damage during recent floods
• We ended up riding around 41 klms after being dropped off by our transport near Puerto Sorrano.
• There wern't any small townships along the way today from where we started, somake sure you have enough food and water for the day
• It started to get quite hot by the end of the ride (Ápril 18 2026)
• The final part of the ride up to Arcos is not very long, but quite steep. The road is not wide, so there is very little room for cars and bikes so care needs to be taken.
• You're probably going to have to walk the last two hundred metres (non e-bike riders), as it is very steep and cobbled with cars going up and down the very narrow street.