Reto Ibérico: a new 500 km trail through Spain's wild Iberian Range

Spain has a new long-distance hiking trail. It’s called Reto Ibérico (“Iberian Challenge”), a 500-kilometre loop linking the Serranía de Cuenca, the Alto Tajo, the Sierra de Albarracín and the Montes Universales, in the heart of the southern Iberian Range, across the provinces of Cuenca, Guadalajara and Teruel.

Trail technicians from Rewilding Spain and the Castilla-La Mancha Mountain Sports Federation (FDMCM) spent more than a year designing it.

One trail, five ways to hike it

The full route has 24 stages and passes through 38 villages. If you don’t have three or four weeks, you can split it into four circular loops:

Loop	Stages	Distance	Municipalities
Reto Serranía	9	180 km	12
Reto Albarracín	8	185 km	13
Reto Montes Universales	6	160 km	14
Reto Alto Tajo	7	180 km	17

Stages link villages, and 23 lodgings and restaurants have already joined as partners, so you can do it without a tent (book ahead: many villages have very few beds).

What hikers will find

• Nine protected natural areas and the source areas of eight rivers, including the Tagus.
• Two old-growth forest reserves and three natural grazing areas with large herbivores, part of Rewilding Spain’s work.
• Much of the area holds Starlight dark-sky certification: perfect if you want to watch the stars after a day on the trail.
• First-class heritage: the city of Cuenca, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the historic town of Albarracín.

“We can’t forget about the economy and rural development,” said Basilio Rodríguez of Rewilding Spain. Miguel Ángel Cubillo of the FDMCM added: “Hiking is health for our mind and our body.”

How to plan it

The official website, retoiberico.com, has interactive maps and lets you build custom routes with files that work in hiking apps. A few tips:

1. Pick your season: spring and autumn are ideal. Summer middays are hot and the higher areas can get snow in winter.
2. Start with one loop: Montes Universales is the shortest (160 km).
3. Carry enough water on long stages; here’s how much water to carry.
4. Use broken-in boots: that’s a lot of consecutive kilometres. See how to choose hiking boots.

Never done a multi-day hike? Start with how to plan your first mountain hike.