Trip to Spain - Christmas 2024
General Notes
Christmas with family at my sister's place in Sanlúcar de Guadiana in Spain. On the way there I spent four days exploring the railways in the area east of Sevilla; and I also spent a day looking at lines towards Zafra. Flights were Manchester to Sevilla and back. Main transport was a hire car from Sevilla airport; on two days I cycled two interesting Via Verde routes, using hired bikes.
| Place | Arrive | Depart | Train | Traction details & notes |
Friday 20th December 2024
| Timperley | 03:30 | taxi | ||
| Manchester Airport T3 (MAN) | 03:45 | 05:50 | FR 4370 | Ryanair EI-EKM B737-8AS push-back 05:48, take-off from runway 23R at 06:09 |
| Sevilla (SVQ) | 09:40 | landed 09:48 on runway 09, on stand 09:50 - bus | ||
| Hire car: Sevilla airport - Utrera - Marchena - Morón de la Frontera - Ronda - Olvera. | ||||
| Overnight: Hotel Restaurante Estacion Via Verde, Estacion Via Verde, Olvera (1 night). Today's photos. | ||||
| Notes Convenient flight from Manchester to Sevilla. Hire car: Peugeot 208 from Europcar. Novelty and convenience facrtor of staying the night in a hotel in a former statioin building that never saw any trains (see next day's notes) and with a cycle hire shop |
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Saturday 21st December 2024
| Hire cycle: on the Vía Verde de la Sierra westwards from Olvera to Puerto Serrano and back. Strava record: 78.9 km, 456 metres height gain. Surface: some tarmac, mostly compacted stone. | ||||
| Hire car: Olvera - Antequera (old and new stations) - Doña Mencía. | ||||
| Overnight: Hotel Mencía Subbetica, Doña Mencía (1st of 2 nights). Today's photos. | ||||
| Notes Hire cycle from Cronosesca, adjacent to Olvera station https://www.sesca.es/alquiler-de-bicicletas/. The Vía Verde de la Sierra is reckoned to be the most scenic rail trail in Europe and I can't disagree with that, though this is the first I've done outside the UK. 28 tunnels (the longer ones lit), 4 viaducts, 4 stations. This was a planned route from Jerez de la Frontera to Almargen, started in the 1920s but never completed and abandoned in 1936. So, a railway that never saw any trains! Unexpected 10% discount on the cycle hire for having stayed the night in the hotel. Two nights in a hotel in Doña Mencía on the edge of town but very close to the Vía Verde del Aceite with its cycle hire shop. Evening meal in the Doña Mencía station building, now a restaurant. See also the Vía Verde de la Sierra route description and the route's own website. |
Sunday 22nd December 2024
| Hire cycle: on the Vía Verde del Aceite, from Doña Mencía eastwards to the Salado Viaduct and back. Strava record: 85.6 km, 464 metres height gain. Surface: some tarmac, mostly compacted stone. | ||||
| Overnight: Hotel Mencía Subbética, Doña Mencía (2nd of 2 nights). Today's photos. | ||||
| Notes Hire cycle from Centro Cicloturista Subbética, adjacent to Doña Mencía station https://centrocicloturistasubbetica.com. The complete Vía Verde del Aceite is 120 km long, from Campo Real in the west to Jaén in the east, so far too much for a one day visit, so I concentrated on the central section which has numerous viaducts. Aceite is Spanish for (olive) oil and you certainly see plenty of olive trees, this is one of the principal growing areas in Spain. Unlike yesterday's ride, today's Vía Verde had actually been a live railway, opening throughout in 1893 and closing in 1984. See also the Vía Verde del Aceite route description. |
Monday 23rd December 2024
| Hire car: Doña Mencía - visiting more station sites on the Vía Verde del Aceite (Cabra, Lucena, Navas del Selpillar and Campo Real) - Puente Genil - La Roda de Andalucía - station and other sites on the Antequera - Sevilla line (Pedrera, Aguadulce and Osuna) - Sanlúcar de Guadiana. Today's photos. | ||||
| Notes Firstly I visited all the station sites on the Vía Verde del Aceite to the west of Doña Mencía. Then a quick visit to the station at Puente Genil but there was no easy access to the platforms on this freight-only line. A look around La Roda de Andalucía, where the platforms were accessible, and also had a look at the former triangular layout at the south end where the line went off to Pedrera. Then to statioons of interest on the Antequera - Sevilla passenger line, including the deviation at Aguadulce and more views of the abandoned Antequera - Sevilla high speed line. |
Friday 27th December 2024
| Hire car: Sanlúcar de Guadiana - visiting station sites on the Zafra - Jerez de la Caballeros line (Jerez de la Caballeros, Burguillos del Cerro, Alconera) - Cueva de la Mora mines railway bridge - Valdelamusa station - Sanlúcar de Guadiana. Today's photos. | ||||
| Notes The Branch Line Society had tried to organise a railtour on the freight line from Zafra to Jerez de la Caballeros back in 2015 but permission had been refused at a late stage; so I have wanted to have a look around since then. There is no traffic beyond the cement works at Alconera but the track is in excellent condition. I had been shown a photo of an interesting bridge on the 630 mm gauge mines railway from Valdelamusa to Cueva de la Mora, so I had to go and find it for myself especially as it was en route; access from the main road was via about a km of forestry tracks. Finally I visited Valdelamusa station, which normally has a very sparse passenger service on the Huelva - Zafra line, but has been closed for engineering works since July 2023. A works train was present with an unidentified diesel locomotive. Typically for Spain, no re-opening date has been advertised. |
Sunday 29th December 2024
| Hire car: Sanlúcar de Guadiana - Sevilla airport | ||||
| Sevilla (SVQ) | 13:00 | FR4371 | Ryanair B737-8AS EI-DWM push-back 13:03, take-off 13:14 from runway 09 | |
| Manchester (MAN) | 15:00 | landed 14:46 on runway 23R, on stand 53 at 14:51 | ||
| Manchester Airport | 15:15 | Manchester tram 3085+3089 | ||
| Trafford Bar | 16:01 | 16:06 | Manchester tram 3030+3039 | |
| Timperley | 16:20 | |||
| Notes Hire car return, flight home, then trams home (lots of train cancellations as usual). |
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