Stage 7: Doña Mencía Station – Cabra Station

The starting point of this new 12.7 km stage of the Olive Oil Greenway Nature Trail is at the Doña Mencía station, which, like others on the old railway line, has been repurposed as a restaurant. On the right is the village known for its famous Montilla-Moriles wine cellars. In the old cargo dock of the station is the Subbética Bike Centre for Tourists, where it is possible to rent bicycles directly at the starting point of the Nature Trail. There is also a parking area for motorhomes in the old station facilities and an information point on the route, the nearby municipalities and the Sierras Subbéticas Natural Park, which can be accessed by trails that branch off the Nature Trail itself.

Barely two kilometres after the start of the stage, continuing to the west parallel to the N-432 road, there is another railway installation that has been restored as a cycle-tourist information centre and resting area. It was formerly a railway booth used to house a worker specialised in track maintenance. Following the route along the old railway track, the path crosses several infrastructures built to allow the passing of trains, such as artificial trenches where the olive trees momentarily disappear from view, viaducts over roads and streams, and the Plantío tunnel, the only one on the entire route located behind a wooded area of Mediterranean forest.

After passing the Plantío tunnel, the journey continues between gentle slopes and views of the Subbética massif, reaching the Sima Viaduct after a few kilometres, one of the most spectacular examples of 19th century railway engineering. This iron structure, designed by the French engineers Daydé and Pillé in 1890, is 132 m long and is also a popular place for adventure sports. A kilometre and a half further on is the Los Dientes de la Vieja Viaduct, which is 25 metres long and crosses the Ratas Creek and the CO-6211 road. The curious name of Los Dientes de la Vieja (Spanish for “the old woman’s teeth”) comes from the unique geological formations that surround it, reminiscent of the silhouette of sharp teeth.

Three kilometres later, between olive groves, clearings and areas of Mediterranean scrubland, and after crossing the CO-6211 road taking extreme precautions, you reach the old Cabra station, the end of the seventh stage of the Olive Oil Greenway Nature Trail. This second-class station was commissioned in 1891 and, like others on the historic “Olive Oil Railway”, it has a restaurant, a parking area for motorhomes, a children's area and an information point. The Sima de Cabra Route, one of the most emblematic trails in the area, starts very close by.