Madrid Province, (not City)

Granite scenery. The three peaks L to R of El Cancho Largo, El Cancho Gordo and El Cancho de La Bola. As you all know by now, this is my all-time favourite walking area, with the sea cliffs and coastal paths in Cornwall a very close second!

Granite again. La Sierra de La Cabrera

By the side of the minor road between Torrelaguna and La Cabrera

A cold April walk but added beauty to the countryside.

Lavender and granite.

An image from early Spring (March). Madrid Province.

Sierra de La Pedriza, Spain. I think this farm is still worked, the roof has been repaired recently - but who farms here and what they farm, is a complete mystery to me. Suggestions welcome! (I have already dismissed granite as the crop ... but really, there isn't anything else!), There were no goats, nor horses and although the next farm along the trail a couple of miles away had about 100 beehives, nothing of the sort was in evidence here.

There are many old towns, surprisingly close to Madrid, that are comparatively tourist-free such as Colmenar de Oreja.

A granite fairyland. And only a few miles outside Madrid. How it is not swarming with weekend walkers, bikers, etc is beyond me. But perhaps because this is the quieter eastern end and all the visitors go to the western end. Lucky for those that choose the eastern end, I say! PLEASE VIEW FULL SCREEN for the detail in the granite rock. The red and white waymark on the foreground rock is for the GR10, the long-distance path that crosses the centre of the Iberian peninsula from Valencia to Lisbon

The famous palace-monastery, seen from the Herreria Woods (mainly holm and Pyrenean oak), with smoke from an autumnal bonfire (appropriate for November 5!) and the slopes of Abantos behind. There is actually quite a substantial town there, more or less hidden by the bulk of this enormous edifice! When Felipe II had it constructed, it must have been the largest building in Europe at that time. He needed a big place to run his Empire from and for hundreds of monks to pray for and with him! Best viewed on max enlargement.

Constructed high in the Sierra de Guadarrama and now in ruins. I like the stone shapes in these walls just as I love the same in the drystone walls of upland Britain! Best on 'z'

Taken on a very hot October day. This more or less encompasses the whole of the Sierra de La Cabrera (yes it is a small range but quite distinctive, standing out from the rest of the sierra). This shot is taken from near the summit of Mondalindo to the northwest. It overlooks the village of Valdemanco.

Las Machotas, from near the village of Peralejo, Madrid Province. She wouldn't then. She doesn't now. I respect that. Of course. It doesn't matter that I don't understand it. 5 years on and I have accepted it!

Sierra de La Cabrera, El Cancho Largo.

A Valdemanco garden, fenced off from the main road. Sierra de La Cabrera just visible. Note the hollows around the young (and therefore vulnerable to drought) fruit trees. All household waste water is usefully disposed of here. ... And this Spring has been exceptionally dry.

HFF! Castle at Manzanares el Real, Madrid Province. El Yelmo, A prominent peak in the Sierra de La Pedriza, is visible in the background.

Mallow and margaritas by the side of a lane. On "z" please.

Covering the hillsides in late April and May. Central and southern Spain and Portugal.