Going underground: eight kilometres of caves beneath one of Spain's most beautiful villages

Brihuega has gained notoriety in recent years for its lavender fields, so 'Instagrammable' in summer, especially at harvest time, when thousands of people fill the streets. Even now there are still plenty of visitors browsing in the various shops open all year round where they sell essential oils, perfumes, creams, gels and liqueurs made from the plant.

However, Brihuega is more than lavender. There is a lesser-known reason for visiting this village that is, quite literally, hidden underground: a well-preserved labyrinth of some seven to eight kilometres of galleries and tunnels. These are the so-called 'Arab caves', carved out in the 10th and 11th centuries, in which a temperature of between 12 and 13 degrees Celsius is maintained all year round. They were used in times of siege as an escape route beyond the town's fortified walls or simply as a refuge.

In these villages and towns in this part of Guadalajara province in Castilla-La Mancha there is an abundance of tuff rock, a very porous limestone rock that is easy to excavate (to be called tuff, the rock must be made of over 75% volcanic ash). In Brihuega you can only visit about 500 metres of the cave system, but the experience is well worth it. The entrance (3 euros) is in the Plaza del Coso , and these pàssageways take us into another world filled with huge storage jars, which were built in situ as it would have been impossible to carry them through the corridors, and memories of many eras and many wars. There are no more vineyards or wars, but the charm of the place remains in every nook and cranny.

The Plaza del Coso has had this name since at least the 16th century, perhaps derived from the Arabic word 'zoco' (meaning souk, market). This square has always been the site of the market, and in the past also of the so-called Cárcel de Carlos III , located in the same place where the tourist office now stands. Next to it are the Fountains of the Coso , which were also built by the monarch himself in gratitude for the assistance of the locals during Spain's War of Succession. Opposite are the town hall and the entrance to the Arab Caves, "used since time immemorial to preserve oil, wine, drinking water and all kinds of foodstuffs", according to an information panel at the entrance.

Besides the caves, there is plenty for tourists to discover at this time of year in Brihuega without having to endure the summer heat. In the historic quarter is the castle of Piedra Bermeja and the church of San Felipe (13th century). There is even time to go to the hamlet of Cívica , 11 km from Brihuega, next to the CM-2011 road, so popular on social media as it is often compared to Cappadocia in Turkey for its cavehouses in the rockface.

Cívica was once inhabited by the Romans, and in the 15th century some hermits probably occupied the caves carved out of a tuff rockface that is also striking as you approach it by car. The modern era of the hamlet began in 1939 when it was bought by a small group of families. In the '50s and '60s, the local priest Don Aurelio began to cut into the rock, perhaps with some notion of using the caves for religious purposes, a shrine, a retreat. Then, however, he crossed paths with Eduarda, who became his housekeeper and with whom he had a long relationship. Worldly life led him to build two bars into the tuff rock that stayed open for a long time and can still be visited.

Four years ago, Jaime, a resident of Barriopedro, a nearby hamlet of just 20 locals, bought the place where Aurelio traded, and he is trying to restore it little by little. For two euros he shows tourists the caves he has restored to date and tells them the fascinating history of the hamlet and the vertical wall that has been hollowed out by different people since time immemorial.