16 February to Bartolome de La Torre

After a cafe con leche at the Hotel Andalusia I headed east along a well used dirt track directly into the sun rising in a cloudless sky. Between the bright sunlight and dark shade it was difficult to see although the contrasts of light brought out the beauty of the trees and nearby hills. The path eventually returned to the main road, the continuing track on the gps being absent on the ground. After following the road a short distance another track with no gate, heading in the right direction through unfenced land, looked attractive. It took me several kilometres in the right direction through sunlit pine trees. For a short while it even joined a waymarked bike trail (BTT2). Sadly this eventually headed off north and to maintain an easterly direction the gps map indicated I must return to the main road. This required climbing over a padlocked gate, one definitely not designed to be climbed over.
Seeing little other option I walked down the main road for 9 km to Bartolome de La Torre, making the day's walk some 21.7 km long.
(In reviewing my route with the knowledge that there were cycle routes in the area I now realise I should have followed cycle route BTT3 to the south of the main A490 road or BTT4 going to the north. Both go from Villanueva to Bartolome avoiding the main road and I assume without any padlocked gates, see Cycle routes in Beturia )
Walking along the road I was hooted at a few times, I was not sure why as I was walking off the tarmac, although it later occurred to me that they were friendly hoots as sometimes a wave followed. I gained some pleasure from following the road as I spotted four stork nests alongside it on top of electricity pylons, complete with storks, in later days I realised they were actually quite common in the province of Huelva, nesting in church towers and even on cranes, but the first sight of these creatures caused me some excitement. I took photographs but my basic digital camera is such that the storks appear as just a few dots against an empty sky, or in some cases there was just empty blue sky when I was not fast enough.
Having checked into the Hostal Labadia I spent the rest of the afternoon around the town eventually finding (after waking several dogs on false starts) the 12th centuary tower which gives Bartolome de la Torre part of its name.
I also investigated the route I had intended to follow tomorrow. I had been hopeful as it was marked as a road rather than a track. Sadly after a kilometre my way was barred by a padlocked gate. On none of my previous walks in Spain have I seen so many padlocks and so much barbed wire. I felt unwelcome as a walker, which is a shame as the landscape is attractive especially at present with flowers coming out and everything green.

Stork and its nest on top of an electricity pylon

The tower at Bartolome de la Torre