Cycle tourism. The strengths of the Xixarra
This route goes through the strongholds that the Arabs created to reinforce their borders, surrounding the towns and controlling the strategic communication routes. In this way and following the path of the popular «Xixarra», the narrow gauge railroad that linked Yecla-Villena-Alcoy and disappeared in the early seventies, we reach Biar, Beneixama and Campo de Mirra. In addition to the architecture of these municipalities, cyclists perceive in their journey the change that occurred in the populations of traditional agriculture to modern agriculture. Thus, the mechanical dyers alternate in the fields of olive trees with the farmers who still wield their sticks, while in the vineyards, the old vines in glass, are replaced by the new trellised plantations that already cover the entire plain between Campo de Mirra, Cañada and Villena.
Points of interest: Historical center of Biar, Castle of Biar, Old train station of Beneixama, Molí de Lluna, Church of San Vicente Ferrer de el Salse, Laundry of Campo de Mirra, Villena.
Route: 36.08 kilometers. Land type: 27.39 kilometers of asphalt and 8.69 kilometers of land. Slope: 200 meters.
Difficulty: Low.