We took Jack up into the hills one afternoon by car to visit the hilltop village of Castillo de Casteller. The final part of the journey was along a steep, winding single track road and luckily we only met a couple of other cars. Steve has had a lot of experience driving through mountainous regions in the Alps, Vosges and Pyrenees on holiday years ago so he was ok but glad when we arrived. Unfortunately the driver never gets to see all the spectacular scenery as they have their eyes on the road - thank goodness. However there were still beautiful views from the top, especially from inside the walls.

The site is unusual as the fortress and village were built in the 12-15th century on the walls of the original ancient Arab fortress. It appears that the castle was more administrative rather than defensive. In the latter part of the 20th century the government undertook its restoration as it had fallen into neglect.

By 1971 nearly all the original local families had moved to Nuevo Casteller with its superior modern amenities leaving a few locals, holiday home owners and, as a couple of the websites say, “ageing hippies or bohemian types”!

There is evidence of Prehistoric settlements and Bronze age settlements and there are cave drawings to be found in the area.