Beautiful Birds & Bull Run Bravado

Sunday 11 February 2024

It’s still dark as we leave behind us the charming medieval city of Toledo, perched high on a hill above the plains of Castilla-La Mancha just south of Madrid. 

We’re heading west, like the mighty Tagus River, which circles the southern side of the city and which we’ll encounter again later in the day. Our destination is Monfragüe National Park, 2 hours away so we should arrive there in time for breakfast. We can get up, dressed, pack away the bed, take down the thermal blinds and clear the condensation off the windows all in under half an hour (if we need to!).

Gone are the miles of olive groves and vineyards which have been with us for the past two days as we head into the wheat and barley plains of central Spain. In the distance to the north are the snow capped 2000m+ peaks of the Central System Mountain range. The beauty of a big road trip is that it’s a never ending change of scenery.

Monfragüe National Park is described as one of Europe's last unspoiled ecosystems. It’s a small park through which the Tagus and Tiétar rivers flow and converge. The list of raptors which live and breed in the park is extensive including three types of vultures - Eurasian Black, Griffon and Egyptian. There are also Golden Eagles, Black Storks, Eagle Owls, Iberian lynx, deer and wild boar. It’s at this point we regret not bringing our SLR camera with the long lens and a better pair of binoculars!! 

We slowly drove around the park stopping to take photos (as best we could with our iPhones) of the magnificent birds soaring high above our heads and the flooded rivers winding their way through the gorges.

Leaving the park behind we headed for the campervan aire/car park at Trujillo which is sited next to the bullring on the outskirts of the small town. After a cup of mediocre tea (disaster - we’ve run out of Yorkshire Tea Bags!!) we started walking towards the castle which sits on top of a hill the other side of the town. Our most direct route in was blocked by 2 meter high metal fences and crowds, and it soon became apparent that we were, unintentionally, about to witness a bull run. A large firework bang brought cheers and a mild sense of panic to the locals penned inside the fences. The bulls, chased by riders on horseback, arrived and the locals scattered, climbing halfway up the metal fences as the bulls passed. It was soon over - an odd and somewhat uncomfortable experience. To carry on our route we had to ourselves scale the high fences like all the locals were now doing. That really was weird!! 

In the main plaza a temporary bullring had been constructed and out of curiosity we found a viewpoint to see what was going on. More bulls, lots of lively locals in fancy dress, lots of food and drink being consumed and a number of men running around the ring, some with capes, trying to antagonise the seemingly uninterested bulls. Despite many animal rights campaigners trying to get bull fighting banned across Spain it is still recognised by law as part of their cultural heritage. In Trujillo this is a five day event so it must bring in a lot of money to a small town. But it’s definitely not our thing.

We continued our walk up to the castle which is an impressive medieval stone fortress and featured in one series of Game of Thrones (never seen it so don’t ask me which!!). Spain isn’t short of castles - this is our second today as there is a small ruined one in the national park with stunning views across the area.

An odd day - beginning with the peace and tranquility of Monfragüe National Park and ending with the madness of the bull running in Trujillo. As we head back to the van we’re quite relieved that the bullring we’re parked beside doesn’t form any part of the 5 days of carnival activities.