How to find among 758 sublocations those that are worth visiting? The problem is not only the large number, but also the fact that many sites are very difficult to access or are not accessible at all. And those that are accessible differ widely in the quantity and quality/visibility of the paintings. The information on the UNESCO website is not very helpful. Nevertheless, I was able to identify a few potentially worthwhile locations for my visit on Easter weekend 2024. And one of them, the Abrigo Grande de Minateda (not described in previous reviews), offered a guided tour that fitted into my itinerary.

I visited the Abrigo Grande de Minateda (photo) on a half-day trip from Elche. It is located around 100 kilometres east of Elche, a little over an hour by car. But the drive is definitely worth it. The paintings are on a panel about ten metres wide and one metre high: horses and bulls, but also many human figures. The paintings depict hunting scenes, possibly also dances or ritual ceremonies, but the interpretation is not always clear. The figures are not very large, but very filigree and detailed. I was amazed how well visible these paintings are. According to our tour guide, they were cleaned up about ten years ago. You can see the paintings quite well through the fence and can even take good photos (with zoom), the distance is about three metres. But of course, a guided tour is much better. You can see much more up close and the guide draws your attention to details that you would otherwise overlook.
The site is easy to reach, you can find it on Google Maps as ‘Pinturas rupestres Minateda’, with the correct location. From the car park (and meeting point for the guided tour) it is only a comfortable 10-minute walk uphill. Contact information for guided tours on the website of the Parque Arqueologico Tolmo de Minateda. You will also find a sketch of the paintings there, giving you an impression of what you can expect.

The next day, on my drive from Elche to Teruel, I also visited the sites in the Sierra de Albarracín that Els has already described in her review below. The panels here are different to the one in Minateda: smaller and mostly with only a few figures, some of which are difficult to spot. The Abrigo de la Fuente del Cabrerizo is the most strenuous to reach (see Els’ review), all the others are easily accessible. Three trails start from the main car park at Prado del Navazo, the red trail leads to three inscribed sites, the green trail to six sites, and a yellow trail to a last site, the Abrigo de Dona Clotilde with the largest number of figures. Of all these, the Abrigo de los Torros is the best. Four larger toros and several smaller figures are clearly visible.

The Mediterranean Rock Art sites were inscribed in 1998, at a time when a nomination dossier was not required. So a detailed description is not available. The list of the sublocations on the Unesco website is not helpful either, it only provides the IDs and names of the sites and the (mostly incorrect) coordinates. The order of the IDs roughly corresponds to the location of the sites from north to south, starting with Catalunya. Unfortunately, many of the coordinates are wrong, sometimes only about 100 metres (which can be a lot in a mountainous region), sometimes more. Some dots are even in the Mediterranean Sea, a few kilometres from the coast of the Costa Blanca (and no, you shouldn't try to dive for rock art, there is definitely no submarine rock art site in this WHS). More useful is the map file from 2015, here the sites are ordered alphabetically by Autonomous region/Province/Municipality, one page per site. And the number of figures of each site is specified. Assuming that a high number of figures indicates a worthwhile site, I selected four locations that were on my itinerary and searched on the web for contact info and guided tours. These four were: Minateda (see above, 400 fig.), Cueva de la Vieja (214 fig.), La Sarga (250 fig., reviewed by Ammon Watkins), and Cueva Sima de la Serrata (56 fig.).

It takes a little effort to identify worthwhile locations of this WHS. Unfortunately, there is no website that provides information on all 758 inscribed sites. Therefore, the reviews here are probably the best starting point to prepare for a visit to the Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin, although not all regions are covered so far.