Hi,

I'm organising a five day tour of some of the key sites in Aragon and Catalonia. The tour is based around two camp sites and is for a maximum of twelve bikes/riders. There are no fees but I'm writing a handbook of the War to aid people on tours such as this one. If riders want a pre-publication copy please would they cover the cost of printing these.

We start in the central Pyrenees border crossing that was used by refugees and the resistance during and after the Civil war and by allied airmen crossing into neutral Spain during WW2.



Day 2 is focussed on a little known battleground, the Battle of the Segre, with the object of getting aquainted with the conditions of history of this complicated conflict, also looking at some of the technical details: at the first camp site I'll have reference books detailing the military hardware used by both sides and we'll be able to look at restored battle sites to see how the forces were deployed. We'll also visit abandoned towns and villages with a view to understanding some of the economic and social conditions that, according to some historians, are the key to understanding why the conflict happened.



Day 3 takes a long sweep over the Aragon front, including visiting the trenches where George Orwell served in the Republican army - the inspiration for the film, 'Land and Freedom' - and the totally devastated town of Belchite, which has been left as a permanent reminder/monument to the conflict. This is a long hard ride and takes us from the Pyrenean camp site to a lovely site located in the Priorat wine region - not that this is important at all - via the amazing Los Monegros desert:



BTW: the mysterious dark stranger in this image is none other than our very own Barcelona Pat, adventure hero extraordinaire and dedicated fundraiser for UNICEF

Days 4 concentrates on the Battle of the Ebro - the SCW's equivalent to the Somme.

Day 5 is optional with two possibilities: a second day visiting lesser known and inaccessible site on the Ebro battlefield with me as the guide; or riders can depart the group and can join a guided tour of Barcelona's wartime experiences. These tours are run by my good friend and sometimes collaborator, Nick Lloyd. As such this part of the tour is independent of my input. Nick is a professional guide and fees apply to his input.

The tour is on road except for short stretches of well maintained gravel roads that access specific sites - plus the odd short cut But the Day 5 option in the Ebro is trail orientated.

Anyone interested can contact me by PM or take a look at my blog for more details.

Regs

Simon

__________________
The Spanish Biker - the invaluable guide to motorcycling in Spain.

The Spanish Biker LLP: Events, Guide and Support Services