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| e-bike excursionistss in Villafamés, Castellón |
Relatively unknown to the wider public beyond the limits of the province itself, inland Castellón may well be Valencia's hidden cycling paradise....
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| Coll de Fredes, la Tinença de Benifassà, Castellón |
The provincial capital is Castellón de la Plana, a busy, somewhat noisy city that is home to around 170,000 inhabitants, from a total of around 575,000 throughout the province. As is the norm in the Valencian Community, and to a large extent throughout Spain, the vast majority of the local population lives along the coast in towns and villages such as Vinaroz, Peñíscola, Torreblanca, Oropesa del Mar and Benicasim, all of which cater to domestic and international tourism to a greater or lesser degree.
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Traditionally, the economy of Castellón has been centred on agriculture, and specifically the production of citrus fruit and vegetables, as can be evidenced by the seemingly endless orange groves that run from north to south just inland from the coast.
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| Peloton in the Mens Professional Road Race, 2018 Spanish Championships, Castellón, Spain |
Further inland lies the natural and historical mountainous region known as el Maestrazgo (or Maestrat in Valencian), which forms the eastern extreme of the Iberian System mountain range. Home to perhaps the most renowned mountain in the Valencian Community, Penyagolosa (1,831 metres), the area is wild, abrupt, underpopulated and extremely cold in winter. Sounds great, no? It is also the location of many wonderful monumental towns and villages brimming with history and culture, such as Morella, Sant Mateu, Culla, Alcañiz, Vistabella and Cantavieja, to name just a few, and offers some of the most unspoilt mountainous landscapes along the Spanish Mediterranean. With very little traffic, excellent food, uncountable paved and paved climbs......as we say; it may well be Valencia's hidden cycling paradise....
