Tucked away on high, a fountainhead of rocks emerges piled up in the shape of a vertical wall that does not seem to be the work of nature
‘Cerro de la Cruz’ can be found three kilometres from Fuenllana, following a reddish pathway that zigzags towards the meadow and later veers off to the right ascending between vineyards and olive groves, until it reaches a rugged summit in which the greenness of the vegetation is broken by the presence of volcanic looking lead-coloured ridges. Orienting one’s eyes towards the sunset we ride through a vast and broad meadow scattered with small hills that takes us to Cabeza del Buey, outstanding orography of the district as, when its mass is enfolded in a soft blanket of clouds, it predicts rainfall.
Tucked away on high, a fountainhead of rocks emerges piled up in the shape of a vertical wall that does not seem to be the work of nature. In the still waters of the spring the image of the old birch-tree shimmers, sheltering in its shade a small enclosure made up of reeds, leaning crags, quivering grass and weightless dragonflies,
Further down hawthorns flower in the stone walls; reflecting in the sunlight the shiny olive leaves and conveying the perfumed breeze with an intense aroma of warm thyme, rosemary and marjoram.
To the right, a luminous valley of farmland, olive trees and several vineyards that creep up the very sides of the hills. In the distance, a green dense grove of trees and a floating river of mist reveal the meadow.
Following with one’s gaze the pink strip of the meadow’s path, the still mass of the grove of trees set in a fold of blinding whiteness of the countryside, extended like a canvas as far as the Alhambra mountain range, sleeping in the confines, without doubt, a gesture to modernity, its summits festooned with the presence of windmills; that would delight Sanchos y Quijotes alike.
In the foreground, farmlands, areas of pastures and the poplar grove trembling in a swarm of insects and the noisy quarrel of grey flocks of birds fighting over the best branches in which to place their nests, colour and peace in Campo de Montiel.
