Tonight’s stop is in Puerto Lápice, and we’re parked in another free aire, this time overlooked by three pretty windmills up on the hillside.
We filled up with diesel at Alcampo first thing, and paid the lowest price yet – €1.014, or less than 90p per litre. Once out of Cuenca, the mountains soon gave way to the plains, and so the roads became long and straight, just how the Romans would have built them (they quite possibly did!).
The drive itself was rather uneventful. We had intended to have our brew with a view in front of a well preserved medieval castle, perched upon a motte and bailey type of construction. The only access to this was a dirt track from the main road, which continued past the castle with nowhere to park the van, so we had to give up on that idea. Instead, we stopped at the next village, and our brew with a view was watching two Guardia Civil officers pull up an unsuspecting motorist. They must be below target on their stats, as we saw quite a few Guardia Civil cars along the way, laying in wait for errant motorists.
We arrived in Puerto Lápice at lunchtime, and it’s a good job we got here early as the aire is now almost full. We chose this place as it’s a handy stopping point. The town’s claim to fame is that it is mentioned in Don Quijote, and there are statues in town of Don Quijote and his creator Miguel Cervantes, along with a museum and the usual tat shops you would expect to see.
Tomorrow, we’ll be visiting Almagro, another beautiful Spanish village, before driving further down towards Córdoba.
Mike