Guadalest: One Kilometer on Foot to the Cloud Village

There are places that you have to earn on foot before you really see them, and Guadalest is one of those. We were lucky to still grab a parking spot for the motorhome in the neighboring town — apparently not a given on this weekend — and walked the good kilometer from there, Zuky and Mandy ahead, along the road, uphill, in the midday heat, until the rock with the castle appeared for the first time between the trees. 

Busy, but worth it

One must be honest: Guadalest is overcrowded. It is one of the most visited villages in Spain, and you notice it at every corner — tour buses in the surrounding parking lots, souvenir shops packed into every last alley, and more people on the few hundred meters of the main street than the village has inhabitants. And yet, that must be said just as honestly: it is worth it. Some places are so popular because they really have something to offer, not just because they are on a list.

Zuky and Mandy were little bothered by the hustle and bustle, rather the opposite — they rarely get to sniff so many new legs. 

Through the rock

The entrance to the old town is already a small sensation: a tunnel carved directly through the rock, the Portal de San José, through which you must pass to reach the narrow ridge on which the actual Guadalest lies. In front, an ordinary road; behind, another world — narrow alleys on a rocky ridge barely wider than a few houses, with the valley falling steeply on both sides.

At the top towers the Castillo de San José, what remains of the castle that stood here during the time of the Moors, long before Jaume I captured it in 1245 during the Reconquista. Not much of the original structure remains — an earthquake destroyed most of it in 1644 — but that is what makes the place impressive: a ruin that does not need to hide because the rock itself is the actual fortress.

The turquoise reservoir

The view from above is the reason why you accept the hustle and bustle. Deep below lies the Guadalest reservoir, a water in a turquoise that almost looks artificial, framed by bare mountain ridges. The reservoir itself is less than a hundred years old — it was created in the 1960s and flooded part of the old valley at that time — but from up here it looks as if it has always belonged there, as if rock and water had devised it together.

We stood there for a while just by the wall, looking at the turquoise and the tour groups around us, and at some point the bustle no longer bothers you because the view is bigger than all the people sharing it with you. 

The way back

In the late afternoon, we walked the same kilometer back, this time downhill, easier, with two tired dogs who exchanged the hustle and bustle above for the quiet of the neighboring town without batting an eye. Sometimes that is exactly the right rhythm for a weekend: a place you share with people, and a retreat right next door that belongs entirely to you.

Rainer Schmitz

Practical tips for motorhome and dogs

• Parking spaces directly in Guadalest fill up quickly on weekends; more reliable parking options can be found in neighboring towns along the CV-70, but with some walking involved.

• Access to the old town leads through a narrow rock tunnel; easily manageable with dogs on a leash, but plan for some patience when crowded.

• The Castillo de San José and viewpoints are freely accessible and dog-friendly; this does not apply everywhere for the small museums in town (miniatures, torture, dolls) — inquire beforehand.

• There are significantly fewer people on weekday mornings than on weekends or at midday in summer.

• Bring water for the dogs — on the footpath between the neighboring town and Guadalest there is little shade or drinking opportunities.