REVOLUTIONARY ROADS
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5 Stops on the Olive Oil Greenway
0 MILES The city of Jaén is the starting point for westbound cyclists on the Olive Oil Greenway. A handsome provincial capital, it sees a fraction of the crowds of neighbouring Granada, but merits at least a day’s exploration for its 18th-century cathedral and Moorish baths. Hotel Europa has spacious rooms downtown (www.hoteleuropajaen.es).
31 MILES Alcaudete is home to one of the best-preserved medieval castles in Andalucía, its lofty keep looking out over endless olive groves. A 12-mile ride south brings you to Alcalá La Real, crowned by an even-grander Moorish Alcazba (www.castillosybatallas.com/en) with an excellent microbrewery overlooking the battlements (www.tierradefrontera.es).
45 MILES Sleepy Zuheros is a staging post for hikes into the Subbética mountains. Alternatively, rest up at Hacienda Minerva, which has rustic rooms and a small hammam for saddle-weary souls (www.haciendaminerva.com). Push on three miles to somewhat busier Doña Mencía – Bodegas Luque is a winery serving a potent array of sherries (www.bodegasluque.es).
62 MILES Workaday Lucena sits close to the western end of the greenway. It was once home to Andalucía’s largest Jewish community. Visit the Jewish necropolis, unearthed during the building of a bypass in 2006. Hotel Santo Domingo has rooms arranged around an 18th-century cloister at the centre of Lucena (00-34- 957-511-100).
IT IS A CLOUDLESS. The wheels grind into motion. There is a creaking of joints, a gasp, a ring of the bell for bystanders on the platform. It picks up speed, accelerating past lineside huts, clattering over viaducts, sweeping forth through a landscape stirring in mid-morning sunshine. Until, suddenly, the wheels veer off the trackbed, skidding down a little slope, coming to a halt beside a picnic bench. The machine tips onto its side. A solitary passenger dismounts and eats a cheese sandwich.
