After the Quijote Maratón: Consuegra
The Route: Ciudad Real → Consuegra → Ciudad Real Logistics: Hire car, about an hour each way north across the plain. A road climbs the ridge to the windmills, so the walking at the top is short. Marathon Month: October Duration: Day trip
Ciudad Real ──(about 1 hr by car)──> Consuegra ──(about 1 hr)──> Ciudad Real
The Quijote Maratón borrows its name from Cervantes but never goes near a windmill. Consuegra puts that right. Twelve white windmills stand in a line along the Cerro Calderico, the ridge above the town, next to a castle that belonged to the Order of Saint John, and from the top the plain of La Mancha runs flat to the horizon.
October in Consuegra is saffron time. The purple crocus flowers are picked in the fields around the town in late October and early November, and in most years Consuegra holds its saffron festival, the Fiesta de la Rosa del Azafrán, on the last weekend of October, with a flower-stripping competition in the main square. Outside that weekend the town is quiet. Mornings on the ridge are cool and it is always windy up there; take a layer.
Public transport from Ciudad Real is not practical. The drive north takes about an hour. A road climbs from the town up to the ridge and there is parking beside the windmills and the castle, so there is no need to walk up.
The ridge
The windmills stand along a track on the crest, and the walk between them is roughly level, on gravel and rock, about 1 km from end to end. A few are open inside: one, known as Bolero, holds the tourist office and some keep their original grinding machinery, which is worth the short look. The views are the point, over the town's rooftops, the olive groves and the plain.
The castle, the Castillo de la Muela, is at the south end of the ridge. It was rebuilt from ruins and is visited on a short guided tour, with some stairs and uneven floors inside; check times at the gate, and pay a few euros at the door.
The town
Back down in Consuegra, the Plaza de España is the town's main square, with the town hall and cafés. It is the place to try saffron in a dish, if a restaurant is serving it, and the local Manchego.
The drive back to Ciudad Real takes about an hour.