Our drive was beautiful, through olive and cork oak forests in the middle of the Sierra Morena. We had a wonderful view over the unfortunately far too dry landscape. Sometimes a view of the hills and mountains, sometimes an eternal view into the distance and now and again the beautiful pink blooming oleander. Always accompanied by cork oaks, olive trees, brown and black cattle, sheep, pigs and horses. The journey took us through somewhat wider villages, which we drove through in a relaxed manner, and also through very narrow villages that demanded our full attention. Despite our truck navigation system, the roads were so narrow that we had trouble avoiding hitting any parked vehicles. We were a bit of an attraction when we suddenly found ourselves at a mini-junction in a narrow village, the satnav said turn right but we wouldn’t have been able to get through due to the narrowness. On the left hand side the road was closed to 5 tons or more and straight ahead there was a no overtaking sign as it was a one way street.
After a short stretch, we were finally back on the right track and another wonderful stretch of road lay ahead of us. A kilometer-long, winding route, uphill and downhill until shortly before our destination. A nice little village. We followed the signs for the campsite and shortly afterwards we were standing right in front of a bar when the sat nav told us to turn right. The sign also pointed right past the bar. There were cars parked everywhere and the road was quite narrow. We would probably have had a bit of a problem getting around the bend. After standing there for a while and wondering whether the path to the left of the bar, which wasn’t any wider but would be easier for us to drive, would take us to our destination, a young man came up to us and said that both paths led to the parking space. A few minutes later we reached it. We were all alone, there were 8 official pitches with electricity. And a wonderful view of the fields.
Und wieder entspannt durch die schöne Natur.
Las Navas de la Concepcion is a small community. The people are incredibly nice, friendly and helpful. The village used to be a settlement of pig herders. Even today there is a lot of countryside here. The village itself is currently being beautifully renovated. Sidewalks are being paved, buildings painted, paths swept, fountains cleaned and so on. You get the feeling that everyone in the village is pitching in and helping. Even the roadworks don’t look like construction work. The front doors of the various houses are open and the men and women who come out of them talk, work and laugh together. At lunchtime and in the evening, everyone meets in some bar for a cozy get-together. You feel really comfortable and welcome here.
We really enjoyed the peace and quiet and the beautiful view on the pitch and often made ourselves comfortable with our chairs in front of the camper. Which is forbidden on most pitches.
Around nine o’clock in the evening, a couple of young men came and started setting up something like scaffolding or a stage.
We got up early the next morning because we wanted to hike in the Parque Natural de la Sierra Norte. It was pleasantly cool in the morning and later it was almost 32° again. It was a beautiful morning. In the middle of the town, a bay stallion greeted us, let us stroke him and ran alongside us to the end of his fence.
We then set off from a large car park onto an unpaved path. Between the many cork oaks, through a signposted tunnel path. However, this was not a tunnel made of concrete or stones, but of trees. We passed a few Iberico pig enclosures until the path continued along a river.
Out of nowhere, a beautiful church suddenly appeared in front of us and in front of it many benches with tables and numerous barbecue facilities. After a good 4 kilometres we were back in the village. Of course, the 30° limit had already been reached and we were a bit exhausted and sweaty. There is a small bar just before the pitch, so we made a quick stop and enjoyed a cold Cruzcampo beer.
As it is really beautiful here, we thought about staying another night. It was an easy decision for us in the early evening. We found the pitch using our pitch app. We usually check Google Maps to see if the pitch is described there and what it looks like on the satellite view. We were a little surprised because Google said it was temporarily closed. Nevertheless, we tried our luck, but with plan B in mind.
As soon as the people put up the scaffolding on the first day, we wondered whether this could be the reason for the temporary closure. However, there were no signs anywhere. The local residents saw us coming and drove past us from time to time. The square was probably used as a shortcut to get to the village. The police also drove past from time to time and didn’t tell us anything. So we stayed. But on the second evening, when a car with a caravan and a large truck with a camper van arrived and made themselves at home within two hours, it was clear that we would be moving on the next morning. There is a big festival in the village at the end of June. It looked like a funfair was also being set up and more large vehicles would be arriving over the next few days.
The next morning, everyone was hard at work again, sweeping, painting and cleaning the pitch. They also trimmed the branches and twigs of the trees.