Yebra

At 750 m above sea level, Yebra sits high enough for the air to feel thin in winter and for mobile-phone reception to vanish without warning. Dawn breaks over wheat stubble and olive groves; by night the temperature can drop ten degrees below Guadalajara on the plain. This is La Alcarria, the Spanish interior’s bruised tabletop, and Yebra is one of its least advertised corners—no castle, no museum shop, no coach park. What it does have is 450 residents, a single church bell that still marks the hours, and roads that end at the edge of ploughed fields.

The Village that Forgot to Modernise

The centre is a rectangle of stone houses, most built after the 1880s when phylloxera wiped out the vineyards and money ran out. Walk the grid in eight minutes: Calle Real, Cal Nueva, Calle del Medio, done. Wooden doors hang on hand-forged hinges; paint flakes in pastel shards. Peer through the iron grille of number 14 and you’ll see the original wine press, a chestnut beam black with age, now used as a shelf for motor-oil tins. The village bar, Marisquería La Curva, doubles as the bus shelter, although no buses come. Opening hours are painted on a tin plaque: 11:00–15:00, 19:00–23:00, closed Monday, Thursday and whenever the owner drives to Guadalajara for stock. A coffee costs €1.20; tapas appear only if you ask, and the choice is ham, cheese, or both.

The 16th-century church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción dominates the square like a referee who has stayed long after the match ended. Inside, the altarpiece is gilded but the side chapels hold nothing more than plastic chairs and a 1970s loudspeaker that crackles during Sunday mass. Climb the tower (key kept by the sacristan, €2 donation expected) and you can see the Tajo valley shimmering 20 km south; on clear days the skyscrapers of Madrid rise like a mirage beyond the olive carpet.

Walking Without Waymarks

Yebra’s best asset is the network of unmarked tracks that fan out across the cereal plateau. Park by the cemetery and follow the farm road signed “Ermita 3 km”; within ten minutes cereal gives way to holm-oak dehesa where black Iberian pigs graze. The ermita itself is a roofless chapel used by shepherds; swallows nest where the altar once stood. Continue another hour and you reach the abandoned village of Alaminos, population zero, where stone walls still carry the soot of 1950s cooking fires. Total distance: 8 km out-and-back, negligible ascent, boots optional in dry weather.

For something longer, trace the old mule path south-east towards Pastrana. The Camino Natural del Tajo technically passes 6 km south, but local farmers have commandeered parts of the route for irrigation pipes; GPS is more reliable than the faded green waymarks. Expect rolling country, red-legged partridges that sprint rather than fly, and the smell of wild thyme crushed under tyres. Allow four hours to Pastrana, where the medieval ducal palace serves the first decent menu del día within a 25-km radius—€14 for three courses, wine included, weekdays only.

Seasons and Silence

Spring arrives late at this altitude. Almond blossom appears in late March, a fortnight after the coast, and frosts can wreck the crop until mid-April. By May the plateau turns emerald; wheat ears hiss in the wind and the air smells of broom. This is the sweetest window: daytime 22 °C, nights cool enough for a jumper, no mosquitoes.

Summer is fierce. Thermometers touch 36 °C by noon and the streets empty until 18:00. The village pool—an unheated concrete basin built in 1992—opens July–August, entry €2; bring a parasol because there is no shade. Accommodation inside Yebra is limited to four rural casas booked through Airbnb, prices €70–90 per night. All have thick stone walls and modern air-con units that rattle like diesel generators; ask for the electricity supplement in advance or face a €40 surcharge on checkout.

Autumn means harvest. Olive crews arrive with pneumatic combs that shake the branches; the whine echoes across the valley from dawn to dusk. October evenings smell of crushed fruit and diesel; tractors towing 800-kg trailers crawl along the lanes, halting traffic that barely exists. If you want photographic golden light, come now—but book a hire car with full insurance; branches scratch paintwork on the narrow farm tracks.

Winter is not for casual visitors. Night temperatures fall to –8 °C; pipes freeze inside the houses. The nearest ski field is 90 km away in the Sierra de Guadarrama, yet Yebra feels colder because the wind has nothing to stop it. Between December and February only one bar stays open, and the owner admits he may close early “if the television says snow”.

What Passes for Food

There is no supermarket, only a pantry shop that stocks UHT milk, tinned tuna and frozen croquetas. Bread arrives in a white van at 11:30; by 12:15 the loaves are gone. Self-catering is the sensible option, so shop in Guadalajara before you leave the A-2. The local speciality is gachas, a paprika-spiced porridge originally fed to shearers; order it at Marisquería La Curva and you will receive a plate of thick pink paste topped with crisp pork fat—filling, cheap, an acquired texture. Better to drive 12 km to Zorita de los Canes and eat at Mesón de la Ermita, where the €12 migas come strewn with grapes and the owner speaks enough English to explain the menu.

La Alcarria’s famous honey, protected by denominación de origen, is sold from a garage on the road to Pastrana. Look for the hand-painted sign “Miel directa del colmenar”; prices start at €6 for 500 g. The beekeeper keeps irregular hours, but if the metal gate is open he is inside bottling. Ask for milflores rather than single-flower; the mixed blossom version tastes of rosemary and thyme and survives the flight home in hand luggage.

Getting There, Getting Out

Public transport does not reach Yebra. From Madrid Barajas, pick up a hire car in Terminal 1 and head east on the A-2; after 55 km leave at junction 61 for CM-210. The final 19 km twist through wheat fields; watch for wild boar at dusk. Total driving time is 70 minutes, but allow longer if you follow Google’s shortcut—unpaved and tyre-shredding. Petrol is 8 c cheaper per litre at the Repsol outside Guadalajara; fill up before the climb.

If you must travel without a car, take a high-speed train to Guadalajara (25 min from Madrid) and pre-book a taxi (€55 fixed fare, Radio Taxi Guadalajara +34 949 250 022). Return journeys require the driver to come out again, so expect to pay the same fare back unless you arrange a pick-up time. There is no Uber or Cabify this far inland.

The Honest Verdict

Yebra will never feature on a postcard carousel. It offers space, quiet, and the sort of sky you forget exists until you see the Milky Way from the church square. It also offers closure: bars shut without warning, mobile data collapses, and Sunday lunch is a can of beer and a bag of crisps if you arrive after 15:30. Come prepared, bring cash, and treat the village as a base rather than a destination. Do that, and the empty horizons and stone silence might feel like luxury rather than neglect.