Smugglers Trails of the Sierra de Aracena - 8 Days

Sierra de Aracena Natural Park offers stunning walking year round through historic white villages & Moorish forts along old Smugglers' Trails surrounded by oak, elm and chestnut forests. Sierra de Aracena y Picos de Aroche is the second largest Natural Park of Andalucía (declared a Natural Park in 1989 and awarded the European Charter for sustainable tourism), lying in the north of Huelva province, which in turn is the most westerly province of Andalucía, not far indeed from the Portuguese border. With only 40,000 inhabitants scattered over its 3.000 sq km it is probably one of the least known and visited of all the parks in Andalucia. You’ll be surprised by the lush vegetation almost all year round, the profusion of wild flowers through spring, the autumnal colours lighting up la Sierra and a gourmets feast of wild mushrooms found in masses given the right conditions. The rolling hills and white villages offer wonderful walking opportunities. The character of the villages has changed little over the centuries, their history reflected in their architecture and the landscape surrounding them. On walks you pass along Roman cobbled tracks, glimpsing abandoned watermills and ancient hill forts left by the Moors. You can still see villagers working their small allotments, hear the ringing of goat bells among the oaks and chestnuts, and the bubbling of the many streams and springs which abound in these hills. Many of these tracks are accompanied by the ancient arabian water system “acequia” and were frequently used during the Spanish Civil War and after to smuggle goods into Spain from Portugal. Herds of the black Iberian pig grazing among the groves of cork and holm oak are a common sight. The area is rich in bird life with an important population of black vultures. Other raptors are common and include the Golden, Short-toed and Bonelli’s eagles. You can see stork’s nests on almost every village church as well as the endangered black stork, and as you wander along the streams, sightings of heron and egrets are common. Andalucía suffered acutely during “La epoca negra” – the black period – or simply “el hambre” - the hunger - during the 1940’s and 50’s, after the Spanish Civil War, forcing emigration to larger cities and abroad to find work to support their families. In La Sierra some opted to join the smuggling trade and become “Mochileros” – packmen. It was a tough and risky business carrying up to 30kgs in homemade backpacks from the Portugese border village Barrancos into the Sierra to be then moved down to Sevilla. Organised by smuggling bosses, the mochileros would carry loads of main staples beans, coffee and tobacco over 100 km in a 24 hr period. Empty mule trains would be used along the wider paths to distract the Guardia Civil whilst the Mochileros would use the higher, rockier paths to stealthily enter La Sierra and deliver their goods to places such as La Posada in Alájar where hiding places where provided until the goods were moved on.