Some of the most extraordinary tracks have never seen trains. The Jara greenway, named after a flower found in hot, dry regions that attracts clouds of butterflies, follows a line through the Toledo mountains south of Madrid. The outbreak in 1936 of a civil war prevented it from opening. When the war ended, the line was forgotten. As you pass through deep cuttings and cross the massive stone viaduct high over the Tagus, one of Spain's great rivers, an eerie sense prevails.
Pleasure boats are surprisingly absent.
Once-elegant stations are dotted along the trail without a town or even a house to be seen. Heading toward the Mediterranean coast, cyclists pass through rocky gorges near the Serpis River. Why they were built in the middle of nowhere remains a mystery. The most likely occupant of a booking office or waiting room is an occasional sheep. At Quiteria, the only thing moving is a rusty tortilla pan swinging lazily from a cord beneath a cork oak tree.