Camping in Ciudad Real: extinct volcanoes, Don Quixote country and national wetlands
Ciudad Real is the province of La Mancha most identified with the landscapes of Don Quixote, and that image of an endless plain with windmills on the horizon is not false, but it hides a natural richness that goes far beyond it. The Campo de Calatrava, south of the capital, is a volcanic field of more than three hundred extinct eruptive features, with cones, maars and crater lakes that form a lunar and unexpected landscape. Some of these volcanoes can be climbed on foot and offer panoramas over the plateau of great beauty.
The Tablas de Daimiel is the only wetland national park in Castilla-La Mancha and one of the most distinctive in Spain. Its shallow lagoons and water meadows are a refuge for dozens of species of waterbirds: grey herons, spoonbills, black-winged stilts, mallards and other ducks of many species gather here, especially during the migration periods. Wooden walkways make it possible to tour the park without going too far and without disturbing the wildlife. It is a perfect visit for the mornings, before the midday heat sets in.
Cabañeros, in the Montes de Toledo, is the other great protected area of the province and one of the least visited national parks in Spain despite its extraordinary ecological value. Its holm oak and Portuguese oak dehesas, its rañas and its riverside woodlands are home to deer, wild boar, griffon vultures, imperial eagles and, with luck, Iberian lynx. The deer rut in autumn is one of the most impressive natural spectacles in the interior of the peninsula and makes September and October the best months to visit the province.
The Don Quixote route passes windmills, inns and castles immortalised by Cervantes. The windmills of Consuegra and Campo de Criptana, on top of their hills, are visual icons recognisable around the world. Almagro preserves its seventeenth-century corral de comedias, unique in Europe in keeping its original structure, and its international classical theatre festival in July fills the square with spectators from all over Spain. The castle of Calatrava la Nueva and the ruins of Salvatierra tell centuries of history of the medieval military orders.
The cuisine of Ciudad Real is hearty and honest. Manchego cheese with designation of origin, Manchego pisto, game gazpacho, pickled Almagro aubergines and the wines of Valdepeñas, one of the most famous in Spain, make for a generous table. The nights in this province have little light pollution, and the sky of La Mancha on a moonless night is a first-class astronomical spectacle that campers who enjoy astrophotography know well.
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