Thirty-six members left Javea on Friday morning for the SC&C trip to the Cuenca Mountain Range Natural Park and the Parque de Fauna El Hosquillo. Our first stop was at Algemesi, famous for the annual Festivity of La Mare de Déu de la Salut, a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, which features the traditional Muixeranga dance with human towers. We were able to learn more about this festival, and many others held in Algemesi, during a visit to this interesting little town and the Museu Valencià de la Festa.
During our visit we were able to see a unique bullring being erected, which is constructed for the “Bullfighting Week” (Setmana de Bous) which takes place in the last week of September, following the town’s main festival of the Mare de Déu de la Salut. The festivities feature traditional dances and rituals but also include bullfights, often with a mix of young bullfighters and seasoned professionals.
We then travelled on to Cuenca, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and checked in to the 4* Hotel Torremangana for 2 nights b&b accommodation. After time for a freshen up, the majority of the group joined a walking tour which took us past the remains of the old castle, to the valley where we saw the famous “hanging houses”, and across the San Pablo Bridge to the Parador, which is situated in the heart of the Huécar Gorge. The Parador stands on the site of the former San Pablo Convent (16th century), and we enjoyed a glass of wine and nibbles in the sunny cloister.
The town was in the middle of celebrating its San Mateo Festival, one of the most important festivities in Cuenca. Its origins date historically from the conquest of the city by Alfonso VIII in 1177, as the monarch is believed to have rewarded his troops with a great celebration, originally taking place on 1 day which a later king extended to 4! The crowds were noisy but all enjoying the festivities.
On Saturday we went to see the Devil’s Window viewpoint where Nigel Bentley, our Javea U3A expert on birds, was able to capture some great close up photos of the griffin vultures.
and then a walking tour through the Enchanted City.
A very substantial lunch followed in a typical mountain range restaurant in Uña, with a generous number of bottles of wine. During lunch we all sang happy birthday to Hilary as she blew out the candle on the cake provided by the restaurant.
After which we saw the Uña Lagoon, before returning to our hotel and a free evening.
Sunday morning we drove to the Parque de Fauna El Hosquillo, located in the Serranía de Cuenca Natural Park. It was a beautiful journey through some amazing scenery, even if the final road to the Parque was somewhat narrow! Fortunately, Vicente was our amazing driver once again.
The park is home to numerous animals, including a wide variety of birds. It also has good populations of game species such as deer, roe deer, fallow deer, mouflon, and mountain goats. It is also home to an endangered species, the true emblem of the park: the brown bear. This year, 2025, the park became home to two Iberian wolves. Anna, our guide for the 3-hour tour of the Parque, was excellent, and we learned a lot about the fauna and flora and the conservation taking place.
A short drive took us to the mountain village of Las Majadas, where we had another excellent lunch, this time celebrating Ally’s birthday!
Our 3-day break finally came to an end, with our drive back to Javea. We gave a huge round of applause to Vicente, and Angela thanked everyone for making it such a fun trip.
Report by the group leader, Angela Chantry
Thank you to our photographers! (David & Hilary Grove, Steve & Lynn Hardiman, Melanie de Melker, Sue & Nigel Bentley, Sally Rush, Ally O’Brien, Angela Chantry)