Made a stop at Puenta San Miguel. From here you can visit the caves of El Castillo and Las Monedas.
With the tour of both caves in Spanish, it was a good test to see how our Spanish skills were improving!
No pictures allowed in the caves, to protect the wall images – but we did get a pic of the entry bear 🐻
First visit was El Castillo caves with some of the earliest evidence of occupation in northern Spain. The deeper caves were not used for living in, but were used for symbolic paintings – showing reindeer, bison and horses, created between 41,000-3,500 years ago. There are also hand stencils dated at around 37,000 years old.
The second cave to visit was Las Monedas – named for the ancient coins found part way down a hole that disappears into the earth. This cave again has various animal drawings from over 11,000 years ago, showing what animals would have lived in the region.
We asked the guide if evidence of climate change was making an impact on the ancient paintings… sadly, as ever these days, it is. As the seasons are more drastic, the cave’s temperatures are changing and as they dry out the “paint” fades, making them almost disappear.