Portilla

A village in the north-western mountains

Portilla lies at the north-western edge of Serranía Media (middle Serranía), within the Natural Park. Its municipality, about 33 km², mixes hills, pine forests and small woods, with thyme and rockrose in the scrub. On the square stands San Miguel Arcángel church, with a bell gable and dressed-stone doorways, rebuilt several times after fires during the 20th century.

What trades and memory tell

At the head of the Hoz del Moro was a quarry for large ashlar blocks and millstones, some of which remain. Further down is the Piedra Jaspe quarry.

In October 1874, during the Carlist War, an army and Civil Guard column surprised a Carlist band in La Portilla which had been going from village to village demanding rations and collecting contributions. The attack began at ten at night, with fighting from the houses, according to the Gaceta of 12 October.

Routes

PR-CU 30 (short-distance trail) is 12.5 km long. A kilometre from the village it enters the Gollizno narrows, a water-cut gorge, and climbs steeply past Fuente de la Zarzamora and the Hociquilla ravine to Cerrillo del Cura, at 1,370 m, the municipality’s highest point. It descends through the Hoz del Moro and El Entredicho, with its waterfall, and through juniper woodland to Piedra Jaspe, returning along the shaded side of El Callejón. In the Hoz del Moro, ashlar blocks and millstones remain half extracted: perhaps they were never detached from the rock, or were extracted but proved too heavy to bring down over that terrain. Below, at the jasper quarry, the stone’s colours and extraction cuts are still visible.

The drove road came down here

The Cañada Real de Rodrigo Ardaz (royal drove road) crosses Portilla’s municipality, the route of seasonally migrating flocks from the high mountains towards Jaén and Ciudad Real. Just before Villalba de la Sierra, the Tinada del Rojo, in Portilla, was one of the shepherds’ preferred overnight stops.

Plan your visit

PR-CU 30 is a mountain walk of about four hours: start early.

Before you travel

The Gollizno climb is steep and slippery in rain. Bring water, a map and walking footwear.

Combine with

Las Majadas is 5.1 km away in a straight line, Zarzuela 5.5 km and Villalba de la Sierra 6.1 km.