Stage 8: Cabra Station – Navas del Selpillar Station – Lucena

The eighth stage of the Olive Oil Greenway Nature Trail is the longest of the route and begins at the old railway station in Cabra, now completely restored and equipped with a restaurant, a parking area for motorhomes, a children's area and a resting area, as well as an information point. The starting route of the Sima de Cabra Route, one of the most emblematic and representative trails of the Sierras Subbéticas Natural Park.

As soon as you leave the station, the path crosses the Góngora stream and passes by the Camino Natural calisthenics park and the start of the Puente de Jacas path. The route skirts the town of Cabra, passing next to the hospital, the Municipal Auditorium and the sports facilities, and crosses several roads by means of a bridge and a flyover. During this section, the route runs through olive groves, protected by wooden fences. Shortly after, it crosses an asphalted track next to an old railway construction and crosses the Huerta and Guadalazar Creeks.

Just over six kilometres from the start, the stage reaches the Alamedal viaduct, which allows you to cross the Losilla stream. A few metres further on, the Casilla Cañada del Pastor sits near the town of Lucena. As you approach the town, the landscape dominated by olive groves gives way to the industrial estate, where the route crosses several junctions before reaching the station.

Lucena station, a second-class station, had a passenger building with three volumes: the left and right wings were identical, single-floor facilities and the central lounge had two floors, the first floor of which housed the station manager living quarters. It was notable for its V-shaped canopy, which was supported by cast-iron pillars and covered the entire length of the building. A few metres away from the passenger building and on the same side of the track, there were a couple of buildings that were used as cargo docks. In these roofed, open-plan halls there was a small office for the employee in charge of the delivery notes. On one side, cargo wagons were loaded or unloaded, while the other side was used for loading or unloading road vehicles. To protect cargo during loading and unloading operations, these buildings were designed with a gable roof terminating in side overhangs.

Nowadays, the main building has been transformed into the Crafts and Traditions Interpretation Centre, a space that pays homage to the customs and trades that have made the municipality famous: pottery, iron and bronze smithing and woodwork, as well as, of course, the olive oil culture, the fiestas and its popular folklore. On the same site, next to an old warehouse that has now been converted into a restaurant, you can also visit the Vintage Car Museum, which is open to the public at weekends.

In this final stretch, the landscape changes. The gently undulating terrain and the milder climate mark the entry in the vineyard country. Here the olive trees share the limelight with the vineyards where the grapes for the Montilla-Moriles wine, one of the most renowned products of the province of Córdoba, are produced. Thus, the route reaches the last stop of the stage, the Moriles-Horcajo railway station, in the hamlet of Las Navas del Selpillar (Lucena). This former halt, commissioned in 1891, has been converted into a museum, with a rest area, a parking area for motorhomes and a drinking fountain. Of particular note is the still preserved water supply tank for the steam locomotives: a cylindrical, sheet metal structure mounted on top of another masonry or brick structure.

As in the previous stages, this section of the Nature Trail links up with a wide network of routes that allow the traveller to discover the surroundings on foot, by bicycle or motor vehicle. These include those that run through the Sierras Subbéticas Natural Park, as well as interesting cultural proposals such as the Montilla-Moriles Wine Route, which has Lucena as one of its most important starting points.