Caminito del Rey

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Caminito del Rey (The King's pathway) is a disrepaired walkway pinned along the steep walls of a narrow gorge in El Chorro, near Álora in Málaga, Spain.

[edit] History

In 1901 it was obvious that the workers of the Chorro Falls and Gaitanejo Falls needed a walkway to cross between them, to provide transport of materials, vigilance and maintenance of the channel. The work lasted 4 years, and it was finished in 1905. In 1921 the king Alfonso XIII had to cross the walkway for the inauguration of the dam Conde del Guadalhorce, this made people start calling it with its current name. On the present day after many years without maintenance, it has highly deteriorated becoming very dangerous. Its original 1m width over a 700m fall without a handrail (it fell bit by bit over time) makes it a risky adventure. Some bits completely collapsed and were replaced by a beam and a metallic wire on the wall. Many people lost their lives in recent years, after four people died in two accidents in 1999 and 2000 the local government closed the entrances. This didn't stop adventurous tourists who still find their way into the walkway.

Local government (Junta de Andalucía) has a restoration plan estimated in €7.000.000.