At the empty plains in the middle of Spain, there are many hidden gems to be found. On our way south, we went bird watching at Gallocanta and discovered an extraordinary castle in the middle of nowhere.
The castle of Zafra was built in the late 12th or early 13th century on a sandstone outcrop in the Sierra de Caldereros. It stands on the site of a former Visigothic and Moorish fortification that fell into Christian hands in 1129. Zafra had considerable strategic importance as a virtually impregnable defensive work on the border between Christian and Muslim-ruled territory.
The castle was the “Tower of Joy” in the Game of Thrones series. The reason they used Zafra castle, was among others the location of the castle, with no road or other building in sight. Only a long gravel road leads there, which was good coming from the north, going south it was a little washed out and for sure a big challenge for a normal car. We enjoyed the night there, with no light of a house or road to be seen, just the moon and the stars.
From Zafra castle we drove to Molina de Aragón, a town with a huge castle and many historic buildings, beside of a Roman bridge.
To the north of Zafra castle lies the Laguna de Gallocanta, which is one of the most important stopover sites for cranes in Europe, giving shelter to an average population of 30,000 birds between December and February.
The lake also holds a wide array of wetland birds, while its shores are visited by other birds, including raptors.
When we arrived at the lake and came to the first lookout, no crane was to be seen. But at the next bird hide, there they were, hundreds of big cranes! We spotted many more on the fields around the lake, where they find their food.
It was great to spot so many birds. This lagoon for sure is a birder’s paradise, and we saw many people equipped with binoculars in the area.
As we were at an altitude above 1,000 metres, where it is cold at this time of the year, we decided to make our way south and to the coast, to fill up our gas bottles and to enjoy the better weather.