Stage of the Camino
Stage Description
A short transitional stage that climbs the Vinalopó valley from the marble of Novelda to the foot of the Sierra del Cid. Barely thirteen and a half kilometres of comfortable walking, with a gentle continuous gain of just over two hundred metres, which allows the day to be done in a short morning or linked to the previous one if the pilgrim still has legs. The path follows the natural corridor that has joined the Alicante coast to the Meseta since Roman times, among bagged table-grape vineyards, irrigated market gardens and the limestone massifs that close the valley to the north. The arrival is through the conurbation of Elda and Petrer, where one of the best-preserved medieval castles in the province awaits.
The second day of the Camino del Sureste is the shortest of the entire Alicante section and is best understood for what it is: a link. Thirteen and a half kilometres separate Novelda from Petrer along the axis of the Vinalopó, the corridor that since the Via Augusta has channelled traffic between the Mediterranean and the interior of the peninsula. The gradient is slight and progressive, little more than two hundred metres spread out with no memorable ramps.
You leave Novelda with the hill of La Mola and its two silhouettes behind you — the castle and the sanctuary of Santa María Magdalena — which accompany the walker for the first kilometre. The route seeks the river bank and advances among irrigated plots and the bagged vine arbours of the Vinalopó, a growing technique unique in Europe that wraps each bunch in paper to delay the harvest well into winter.
As the valley rises, the landscape hardens. To the north stands the Sierra del Cid with its limestone walls, and to the south the foothills of the Sierra de la Umbría; between them the path narrows beside the road and the railway line, unavoidable companions in this passage. The final stretch crosses the continuous urban fabric formed by Elda and Petrer, two adjoining municipalities that make up the historic capital of the Spanish footwear industry.
Petrer welcomes the pilgrim with its old quarter climbing the hillside to the castle, an Almohad fortress of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, restored and open to visitors, with a keep that dominates the whole valley. At its feet, the old district preserves narrow whitewashed streets and the church of San Bartolomé. The town has a municipal hostel and full services, a good place to recover before the next stage, which already begins to gain the height of the Upper Vinalopó on the way to Villena.
You leave Novelda with the hill of La Mola and its two silhouettes behind you — the castle and the sanctuary of Santa María Magdalena — which accompany the walker for the first kilometre. The route seeks the river bank and advances among irrigated plots and the bagged vine arbours of the Vinalopó, a growing technique unique in Europe that wraps each bunch in paper to delay the harvest well into winter.
As the valley rises, the landscape hardens. To the north stands the Sierra del Cid with its limestone walls, and to the south the foothills of the Sierra de la Umbría; between them the path narrows beside the road and the railway line, unavoidable companions in this passage. The final stretch crosses the continuous urban fabric formed by Elda and Petrer, two adjoining municipalities that make up the historic capital of the Spanish footwear industry.
Petrer welcomes the pilgrim with its old quarter climbing the hillside to the castle, an Almohad fortress of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, restored and open to visitors, with a keep that dominates the whole valley. At its feet, the old district preserves narrow whitewashed streets and the church of San Bartolomé. The town has a municipal hostel and full services, a good place to recover before the next stage, which already begins to gain the height of the Upper Vinalopó on the way to Villena.
Last updated: 17/08/2026
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