The walk begins in the main square of Alájar.
At the bottom of the square head up Calle San Bartolomé passing
the Caja de San Fernando to your left. When you reach a church turn
left into Calle San Marcos. The road soon bears right, passes the
small Plaza de Miguel Moya then drops down Calle Pintor Antonio
Milla past the restaurant Casa El Parino. At the end of the street
you climb slightly and will see a sign for Sendero Aldea de los
Madroñeros. At this sign turn left and climb up a steep track
that is at first concreted. Soon you are descending between old
stone walls and there are cobbled sections of path. There are wonderful
views to the south. This is an exceptionally beautiful beginning
to the walk. Soon you see the small hamlet of Los Madroñeros
up ahead (30 minutes).
You come to a sign. It tells that in the mid 19th
century, the hamlet had a population of 150 but that it is now deshabitado,
apart from the last Sunday in the month of August when a pilgrimage
takes place in honour of Nuestra Señora de la Salud Venerada.
The path drops steeply down to the hamlet. Once you reach the first
houses bear left, away from the church, to reach a large grass-covered
central square.
Go directly across this open area, pass between
two houses, and you will pick up a path that leads between beautiful
old walls, taking you away from the hamlet. You should pick up waymarking.
Cross a (dry) stream and the path winds on between evergreen and
cork oaks. Look for grubbing pigs. The path reaches a gate (45 minutes).
Go through the gate and climb gently upwards.
Pass by Cortijo Mailozana and soon your path descends and crosses
the poplar-lined course of the Barranco de los Madroñeros.
Then continue along a pretty cobbled path. Somewhere around here
would make a nice picnic/elevenses spot. The path, sandier now,
passes an old ivy-coloured palm tree, bears left and passes behind
a farm.
You wind past old olive groves and grubbing pigs
and shortly Linares comes into sight, down below you to your left.
Go through a wire-and-post gate and the path narrows once again.
You wind down on a final steep, cobbled section of path, cross a
stream via a footbridge and then loop to the outskirts of the village
that you enter just beside a small hotel (1hr 30mins).
Make sure to climb up and visit the village, which
is one of the prettiest in the Sierra. Then retrace your footsteps
back to the hotel and here bear sharp to the right, then immediately
left, and follow a narrow path that runs between high walls and
has citrus groves on either side. You reach a wooden gate. Bear
right and when you come to a fork bear right again, and climb to
reach a cobbled track where you turn left. You should see a sign
here: Alájar 8.9 km.
You pass the village cemetery and soon will have
the oleander-filled stream to your left. Continue along this track,
pass a picnic site (avoid a steeper track that branches right here)
and prepare yourself for a long, steep climb.
The countryside opens out and you occasionally
see the road up above you, to the right. The tract narrows, becomes
a path and continues to climb upwards, cobbled at times. Eventually
you meet the Alájar -Linares road (2hrs 30 minutes). Here
you turn left and, after just 20 yards, turn left again and descend
sharply on a track, which is paved for the first few yards. After
just 100 yards at a fork in front of a blue metal gate, go left.
There is a signpost that points the way to Alájar.
Drop down a path that at first hugs the left bank
of the stream before crossing over its right bank.
Soon the path reverts to track and continues descending
unit it reaches the first houses of Alájar where it meets
with the road. Bear left here and wind down Calle Rafael Montesinos.
At the end of the street, bear left again by a telephone, continue
along Calle Virgen de la Salud, and then bear right in front of
the Casa de Padrino.
Follow the wall of the church of San Marco along
and then turn to the right and drop down past the Caja San Fernando
back to the main square of Alájar (3 hours 15minutes).
