Ruta De Los Locos

Seven nights from the French Pyrenees to Portugal, self-guided, 2,200 kilometres over seven stages in a car nobody would miss.

The premise of these events is the opposite of a supercar tour. The car is expected to be cheap, old and probably unreliable, and the organisers are open about it: the entry notes say breakdowns are optional, which is a joke with a point behind it.

Seven stages run from the Pyrenean start east and west across northern Spain, with 130 kilometres of the route on gravel and a cumulative altitude gain approaching fifty thousand metres, which across a week in a tired car is a genuine mechanical test. The finish is in Portugal. Camping is free and self-arranged along the way, and the daily times published by the organisers are departure deadlines rather than estimates: they allow for fuel and a short lunch stop and nothing else, so sightseeing, shopping for dinner and roadside repairs all come out of the driver’s own margin.

The entry fee covers all the overnight stays at the assigned locations, and every occupant of the car needs a ticket: the price shown is the driver and co-driver rate, with passengers at €250 and additional passengers at €200. Registration for this edition has closed and the dates have passed, so anyone interested should ask the organisers about the next running. September is the month, which is the right one for northern Spain: the heat has gone, the gravel is dry and the mountain roads are clear. For anyone who has wanted to drive across a continent without spending a fortune on the machine, this is close to the cheapest serious way to do it.