Camping in Jaén: endless olive groves, Cazorla and the Renaissance in golden stone
Jaén is the Spanish province with the largest area planted with olive trees, and that landscape of green hills dotted with centuries-old trees is the first image that greets visitors as they cross its borders. But to reduce Jaén to its olive groves would be to ignore one of the most outstanding natural areas in the south of Spain and a Renaissance architectural heritage with no equal in Andalusia. The province is ideal for those who want to go camping away from mass coastal tourism, in mountain or dehesa settings where silence and Iberian wildlife take centre stage.
The Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas Natural Park is the largest protected natural area in Spain and one of the richest in biodiversity in Europe. Its limestone mountains, covered in forests of black pine and Scots pine, feed the sources of the Guadalquivir and the Segura, two of the most important rivers on the Peninsula. The park's wildlife includes the Iberian ibex, red deer, mouflon, griffon vulture, golden eagle and bearded vulture, successfully reintroduced in recent decades. The park's trails run through river gorges, viewpoints over forested valleys and blue-watered reservoirs. For campers who enjoy hiking, mountain biking and fly fishing, or who simply want nature in its purest state, Cazorla is a benchmark destination in the south of Spain.
The Despeñaperros gorge, at the far north of the province, has historically marked the natural boundary between the Castilian plateau and Andalusia. Its vertical walls of quartzite rock, crossed by the Despeñaperros river between pine and holm oak forests, are a geological spectacle that can be seen from the road or from the trails of the natural park of the same name. For centuries this natural corridor was the only practicable route between the north and south of the Peninsula, which explains its strategic importance and the number of castles and watchtowers that dot its hills.
The Renaissance cities of Úbeda and Baeza, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003, are the great cultural surprise of Jaén. Úbeda has, in its Plaza de Vázquez de Molina, a group of 16th-century palaces, churches and buildings of exceptional uniformity and artistic quality. The sacristy of the Capilla del Salvador, the work of Andrés de Vandelvira, is one of the most refined Renaissance spaces in Spain. Baeza, a few kilometres away, has a cathedral, an old university and a Plaza del Pópulo in golden stone that win over those who arrive with no great expectations. The cuisine of the province, dominated by extra virgin olive oil with designation of origin, pipirrana, gachas and andrajos with cod, is an essential part of the experience of camping in Jaén.
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