The road from Soria to Sos del Rey Catolico

I was slowly mending and we had both enjoyed our stay in Soria, in varying degrees. Now it was time to move on and take the road from Soria to Sos del Rey Catolico, our next stop.

Bardenas Reales

Our first point of call lay behind the mountains between Arguedas and Tudela.

The Bardenas Reales is a semi-desert area of c.42,000 acres north-west of Soria. The area has been eroded by wind and water and it is a countryside of extraordinary shapes. The wind which blows down the Ebro river valley here is the cierzo which can be very strong indeed. The roads are dirt roads and as I was strapped into my surgical belt again there was no possibility of exploring the park in depth, or crossing the area.

There are two main areas: White Bardena and Black Bardena.

The White Bardena is the central area which we were looking down on from the viewing point just beyond the Tourist Information Centre. There is apparently a lot of gypsum and salt in the soil and that creates the whiteness. There is also a flat, elevated area in the north, the Plaza Blanca.

View from the Mirador Bardena Blanca — The view from the Mirador Bardena Blanca

One of the formations in the Bardenas Reales

The Black Bardena to the south is greener, with pine and oak forests and rivers. It also has an elevated plain.

The road from Soria to Sos del Rey Catolico — The N125 road between Tudela and Valarena

Black Bardenas in the Bardenas Reales — Cornfields in the Black Bardenas

Shrubs and farmland in the Black Bardenas

The NATO and Spanish Firing and Bombing Range

The Spanish Air Force have a bombing range in the park and sometimes some of the roads are closed off. From the viewing platform we could see, and hear, the jets on their bombing runs for a while.