Side Trips in Olite
High up on a mountain of the same name, a short drive east along a secondary road from Olite, Ujúe seems plucked from the Middle Ages. Built as a defensive town, it has cobbled streets and stone houses clustered around its fortress Church of Santa María, dating from the 12th to the 14th centuries. The heart of King Charles II ("the Bad") was placed to rest here. The church towers open onto views of the countryside, extending to Olite in the west and the Pyrenees in the east. Admission to the church is free and it is open daily 10am‒5:30pm.
On the Sunday after St. Mark's Day (Apr 25), Ujúe is an important pilgrimage center for the people of the area, many of whom, barefoot and wearing tunics, carry large crosses. They come to Ujúe to worship Santa María, depicted on a Romanesque statue dating from 1190. It was plated in silver during the second half of the 15th century.
The sleepy town is also renowned for candied almonds and its migas de pastor breadcrumbs dish, available in local shops and restaurants respectively.
Just over a half hour’s drive south from Olite, you will encounter a natural curiosity, the semi-desert of Bardenas Reales, designated as a biosphere reserve. Start by picking up a park map at the Centro de Información de Bardenas Reales de Navarra (tel. 94-883-03-08), accessed from the NA-8712 near Arguedas. It is open 9am‒2pm and 4‒7pm (in winter, afternoon hours are 3‒5pm); the park itself is open from 8am until 1 hour before sunset, and a multilingual touchscreen outside makes information available even if the center is closed. Around twenty communities co-own the park, together with a nearby monastery. Around mid-September, shepherds bring sheep down from the Pyrenean valleys to graze here, before returning to higher pastures in April or May. Bizarrely, the flocks share the park with the Spanish air force, who drop dummy bombs onto a central firing range—a quite extraordinary sight (and sound!). The most photographed feature of the park is the Castildetierra, a skewed spike of a hill crafted by centuries of wind and occasional rain—a natural wonder that would not look out of place in Arizona. This strange desert and its stunning scenery are popular with film producers; Bardenas Reales has appeared in various movies, including Ridley Scott’s The Counselor and the sixth series of Game of Thrones. Birdlife here is abundant, with golden eagles, lesser kestrels, and black kites present as well as the rarer and smaller Dupont’s lark.
