The bull
 

I had read something about them a while ago and knew they were a type of billboard. The associated company had started removing them years ago, but after people began protesting they were allowed to stay. This is a Wikipedia article about them.

​

A little further, our planned route would cut another part of the main road. This time we decided to just stay on the big road. That was a bit further but we would be able to cycle much faster. We were again out of food, so we needed to buy groceries in the next village. We followed a smaller road that gradually went uphill. After a town comprised of just three houses, the descent started. There were many squashed animals on the road. Rabbits, snakes, and birds. I think there was more wildlife because we were again in an area with more water. The area we were in during the past few days had much fewer animals.

 

We passed through Espera, a Mediterranean village with only white houses. There we found a relatively large supermarket. First we sought water and ice creams before buying fruit. Now we had to ask for oranges in Spanish. The man behind the counter thought it was funny. We first needed to pronounce 'dos naranja' perfectly otherwise he wouldn't give them. Then we also bought two 'manzana's' (apples). The man asked where we came from and where we were going. Then he asked if we didn't want to buy beer. We told him we wouldn't be able to cycle if we did. He said we should be careful for the police if we did. Then an old man with a hat also started talking to us. I didn't understand anything, but he was funny. When we were waiting in line he came up to us again and pointed to my stomach. He said I was skinny from all the cycling. He wasn't, so I joked that he should also start cycling. He told us he did have a bike.

After paying, we sat down in front of the store. The old man came out a bit later and got his 'bike', which was actually a moped. The curb we were sitting on turned out to be part of someone's house. While we had laid out all our food and were eating the six ice creams we had bought people started coming out. The mother waived her daughter off and then noticed us. They said something like, 'oh, there are people here'. Then she wished us a nice meal and went back inside. I don't think the Spanish living in such small villages do much throughout the day, but they are very friendly. Just like the old man from the store. There were few young people it seemed. While we were eating someone drove by while playing loud music. Even the 'bad' music people played here was better than in the Netherlands. He was playing some weird remix of Sean Paul. The children playing music on their phones were also all playing the happy music you would expect to hear on a tropical island.
 

We continued over shallow hills that allowed us to cover much distance. In Arcos de la Frontera we had a brief break at a supermarket. As usual we bought more than we had planned. When we entered we initially thought it was closed. The man behind the counter looked confused when we walked in, they were cleaning the scrubber and all the meat had been put away. Apparently, the store was open but hardly any customers came in between 12 and 5. We bought some drinks and fruit. Bram had juice containing 10% lemon. Fortunately, this was one of the few vacations on which his lip didn't blister from the sun, so it didn't sting. We took some pictures around Arcos.