The crossing of Los Molinos through Castilla - La Mancha

We travelled through the provinces of Toledo and Ciudad Real in search of the giants that Don Quixote of La Mancha faced, but this time we did not ride a horse, but rather a Karibú.

Difficulty of the route: ★☆☆☆☆ (easy and very inspiring)

Los Molinos de Consuegra and Los Molinos de Campo de Criptana: Are they different?

We took our karibu (van) on a cold afternoon, you could smell the adventure ahead. In less than two hours of driving south, we came in sight of the Castle of Consuegra. The sun gradually warmed our hands while a few windmills peeked timidly over the top of the mountains.

We parked the camper in the middle of the day on high ground, where other travellers were recharging their batteries for the confrontation with the giants.

Motorhome Parking at the Windmills

In Consuegra, there is an authorised and wonderful place to spend the night. We saw many families having lunch and spending Saturday afternoon. The area has several picnic areas and plenty of parking space. However, we did not spend the night there, as our trip was just beginning.

...Continuing on our journey

Behind the car park was the route to the windmills. We started to climb the hill that led to the point of attraction, we were alone, it seemed that all the travellers were gathered somewhere else, it caught our attention. The clouds were parting in the sky and the lightning was falling more and more strongly on our heads, to the left we could see the castle, a beautiful monument, and as soon as we looked in front of us, suddenly, we saw a cross, then another and another. The giants began to stand upright and we felt smaller and smaller. The ground was hard and slippery, the small stones rolling down the hill made it difficult to reach the summit.

After about 10 minutes up the hill, we arrive at Los Molinos.

Unfortunately for us, they had already been defeated, they were surrounded by a large number of travellers pointing their cameras at them, apparently we were too late. But we didn't give up, we took some photographs, got on our machine and set off in search of others, other mills that had not yet been found.

Towards Campo de Criptana

Once in the camper we knew we were in for a long journey, so we decided to make a stop in Alcázar de San Juan, a small town halfway, where we bought water and food.

Arriving in Campo de Criptana, we had to decide whether to go to the north car park, which had no toilet, but promising views, or to the south car park, with toilet facilities, water and electricity. We listened to our instinct and went to the more promising one, in search of the windmills and a different experience, to the north.

The light was fading, we climbed up a hill and the first thing we saw on the left was an old watchtower of a ruined castle, we went a few metres and there they were! Our enemies, 28 blades pointing at us, were beautiful, and the best thing was that we saw no one around, just a few motorhomes, ours was by far the smallest, but the most adventurous.

We decided to park in company, together with other travellers. We wait for the sunset and enjoy a delicious dinner in the van.

When night fell, surprisingly, the giants lit up on the horizon and there we finally saw what Quixote saw. Our faces were one of complete amazement, followed by enormous joy. We took some pictures, which we leave below, for you to enjoy and encourage you to visit them. After all, they are beautiful, very friendly and sometimes lonely windmills.

After our feat, we set our machine in the direction of the famous Carcavas de Burujón.

Where to stay overnight in Criptana

To our surprise, the variety of places allowed for overnight stays is so varied that it caters for all tastes. We stayed a few metres from the windmills, which we could see very close from the windows of our little van. There is also another place to spend the night with electricity and toilets, although the latter costs 6 euros per night and an extra 2.5 euros for each additional service.

The Manchegan Mills, their functioning and history

These mills were built in the 19th century. Their function was to grind grains of different types in order to produce flour with the help of the wind, which is why all these engineering works are located on the top of high and long hills.

They are white and blue on the outside. They have a cylindrical body and a canonical roof, which rotates together with its 4 blades depending on the direction of the wind. Each blade is 11.5 metres long, and they are shaped like fences or grilles, which were once covered by tarpaulins to resist the wind so that they could rotate. Today these tarpaulins are no longer available and the blades are fixed.

Operation of a flour mill