Stage of the Camino
Stage Fuente-Álamo to Higueruela
From Fuente-Álamo To Higueruela
Plan your CaminoStage of the Camino
Stage Description
A day of pure steppe that climbs the Albacete high plateau from south to north, from the vineyards of Fuente-Álamo to the windswept plains of Higueruela, already at a thousand metres above sea level. The route passes the hamlet of Las Anorias and skirts the salt lagoon of Pétrola, an endorheic wetland where flamingos breed in spring — one of the most surprising sights of the entire Camino del Sureste. From Pétrola the trail continues along tracks through grain fields, climbing gently but steadily to Higueruela, a farming village crowned by modern wind farms. It is a long, solitary, shadeless stage of open horizons, where the silence of the plain and the birds of the lagoon are the only travelling companions.
Some 36 kilometres of unpopulated high plateau separate Fuente-Álamo from Higueruela, in one of the loneliest days of the Manchegan section of the Camino del Sureste. The profile is gentle — you walk constantly between 840 and 1,000 metres — but the length and the lack of intermediate services mean setting out well provisioned.
You leave Fuente-Álamo heading north, among vineyards and almond trees, along farm tracks leading to Las Anorias, a small cereal-farming hamlet halfway to Pétrola. It is the only inhabited spot in the first third of the day, surrounded by plains that turn golden in summer and are lashed by cold winds in winter.
The great natural landmark of the stage comes on the approach to Pétrola: its salt lagoon, a protected endorheic wetland that is one of the most important inland breeding sites for the greater flamingo on the peninsula. Watching them take flight over the shallow waters, with the Manchegan steppe behind, is a picture few pilgrims expect to find so far from the sea.
From Pétrola the path continues north along tracks between fields, gaining height almost imperceptibly up to the vast moorland of Higueruela. The wind turbines crowning the hills — one of Spain's first large wind farms was built here — announce the arrival long before the village comes into view.
Higueruela, at over a thousand metres, is a quiet farming and livestock village whose main landmark is the church of Santa Quiteria. The route of the Camino de Levante converges within its municipality, so the pilgrim sleeps already on the trail that leads to Albacete via Chinchilla de Montearagón.
You leave Fuente-Álamo heading north, among vineyards and almond trees, along farm tracks leading to Las Anorias, a small cereal-farming hamlet halfway to Pétrola. It is the only inhabited spot in the first third of the day, surrounded by plains that turn golden in summer and are lashed by cold winds in winter.
The great natural landmark of the stage comes on the approach to Pétrola: its salt lagoon, a protected endorheic wetland that is one of the most important inland breeding sites for the greater flamingo on the peninsula. Watching them take flight over the shallow waters, with the Manchegan steppe behind, is a picture few pilgrims expect to find so far from the sea.
From Pétrola the path continues north along tracks between fields, gaining height almost imperceptibly up to the vast moorland of Higueruela. The wind turbines crowning the hills — one of Spain's first large wind farms was built here — announce the arrival long before the village comes into view.
Higueruela, at over a thousand metres, is a quiet farming and livestock village whose main landmark is the church of Santa Quiteria. The route of the Camino de Levante converges within its municipality, so the pilgrim sleeps already on the trail that leads to Albacete via Chinchilla de Montearagón.
Last updated: 24/08/2026
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