Detour #325: Powered by the Sun across Europe’s Only Desert, Spain
Go to Granada for the city’s historic streets, stay for the fabulous food, and leave to explore the amazing roads of the Sierra Nevada region and Gorafe desert beyond.
Granada is a fabulous city for tourists, but Detourists thinking they can explore by car would be very much mistaken.
The cobbled streets are narrow, and steep. A maze of steps zigs and zags throughout, and much of the centre is out of bounds for those on four wheels. It is, however, absolutely beautiful, a striking mix of architectures that reflect its history from Roman to Moorish, Medieval and even punk rock. Joe Strummer of The Clash is immortalised at Placeta Joe Strummer having written the words "Granada oh my heart" in Spanish Bombs.
Explore on foot, discover the Alhambra, the Charterhouse, Mosque and much more. Sample the Trevélez ham, the pot of St Anton and the region’s tasty pastries – you might even want to pack some for the onward journey as this Detour takes one far from the civilisation of cafes and cake shops.
Heading out of Granada I have an additional anxiety. Range. That’s because I’m driving a new all-electric Mazda6e and the near 200-mile route has plenty of hills which could eat into the battery life. Mazda has a reputation for building fine-handling cars so I’m not too worried about tackling a succession of switchbacks, but this four-door is sized for a family, and some of the roads are both sinewy and slender with no room for error.
East from the city, it’s but a short hop on the A-395 before I turn off towards Quéntar. I’m north of the Sierra Nevada mountain range but the whole area is craggy and arid. It’s a good run on an almost deserted road that’s endlessly involving, through its continuous curves and elevation changes, all the way to the A92 motorway.
Now the landscape changes to more open country, where, despite appearing barren nature provides in new ways. Wind farms are everywhere and just south of where Spaghetti Western Once Upon a Time in the West was filmed is the gigantic Andasol solar power plant.
Actually, it’s made up of three different plants, each covering 200 hectares with over 200,000 parabolic mirrors to focus the sun’s rays on miles of pipes to heat a special liquid up to around 400 degrees centigrade. This fluid in turn is used to create steam to drive the plants generators, with each producing around 50 megawatts, or enough to power 50,000 homes. What’s more, by using a molten salt heat battery system to store excess energy the plant can operate 24 hours a day in the summer months.
It's an impressive feat of engineering and significant component of Spain’s renewable energy programme. The country gets more than half its electricity from wind and solar power, so the chances are that my trip in the Mazda6e really is completely emissions free.
I follow the A92 to Abla before heading north on the incredibly twisty AL-5405 towards Los Olmos. It’s a region rich with olive groves, in a landscape that could have been plucked from the American West and a road that requires absolute attention.
The Mazda6e acquits itself pretty well. It’s not searingly fast, but has a level of performance that you can actually deploy to the full on a drive like this, while there is a reassuring level of grip, if not the most feelsome steering. The drive would be more fun in an MX-5 (Miata) but I’m still enjoying myself.
At Baza I take the N342 into the Badlands of the Gorafe desert and it’s like I’ve been teleported across the planet. Driving through the canyons it could be easily be mistaken for Arizona. This is the only high desert in Europe, at around 1,000 metres above sea level and around every corner is a new photo opportunity.
The small town of Gorafe is home to just 470-odd people and some still live in cave houses carved into the rock which date to neolithic times, and worth a wander. Then it’s onwards through more epic desert scenes to Bogarre and beyond that to pick up the E902 motorway to return to Granada.
I arrive with around 20 per cent charge remaining in the battery, having barely looked at the gauge all day, let alone considered driving economically. Proof that planet-friendly drives definitely do not have to be dull.
ROADBOOK
CLASS: Desert Drive
NAME: Granada and Gorafe
ROUTE: Granada to Granada
COUNTRY: Spain
Distance: 192 Miles
Go to Granada for the city’s historic streets, stay for the fabulous food, and leave to explore the amazing roads of the Sierra Nevada region and Gorafe desert beyond.