Caminito del Rey

El Caminito del Rey (English: "The King's little pathway") is a walkway or via ferrata, now fallen into disrepair, pinned along the steep walls of a narrow gorge in El Chorro, near Álora in Málaga, Spain. The name is often shortened to El Camino del Rey.

History

In 1901 it became obvious that workers at the hydroelectric power plants at Chorro Falls and Gaitanejo Falls needed a walkway to cross between the falls, to provide for transport of materials, and for the inspection and maintenance of the channel. Construction of the walkway took four years and it was finished in 1905.

In 1921 King Alfonso XIII crossed the walkway for the inauguration of the dam Conde del Guadalhorce and it became known by its present name.

The walkway has now gone many years without maintenance, and is in a highly deteriorated and dangerous state. It is one meter (3 feet and 3 inches) in width, and is over 200 meters (700 feet) above the river. Nearly all of the path has no handrail. Some parts of the concrete walkway have completely collapsed and all that is remaining is the steel beam originally in place to hold it up and the wire that follows most of the path. One can latch onto a safety-wire to keep from falling. Several people have lost their lives on the walkway in recent years; after four people died in two accidents in 1999 and 2000, the local government closed the entrances. However, adventurous tourists still find their way onto the walkway to explore it.

The regional government of Andalusia budgeted in 2006 for a restoration plan [cite news
url=http://www.diariosur.es/pg060121/prensa/noticias/Malaga/200601/21/SUR-MAL-020.html
title=Acuerdan una partida para restaurar el Caminito del Rey
date=January 21 2006
publisher=Diario Sur
language=Spanish
accessdate=2008-04-07] estimated at € 7 million.

References

External links

* [http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1438490562 Video of a fast walk along the path]
* [http://www.abc.net.au/gameon/chasm/ Flash game "The Chasm" inspired by Caminito del Rey]