El Chorro

El Chorro: Entrance to Gaitanes Gorge

El Chorro ("The Spurt") is a small village located in Málaga (Andalusia) in southern Spain, near the town of Álora. It is one of the most popular rock climbing attractions in Spain as it is located next to Desfiladero de los Gaitanes ("Gorge of the Gaitanes"),[1] This village is also frequented by mountain bikers, hikers, and campers.

Gorge of the Gaitanes

The gorge was famous for a scary walkway called Caminito del Rey (King's Pathway) which hangs 100m above the base of the gorge. The path provided access to a hydro-electric plant and took its name after an official visit by Alfonso XIII of Spain in 1921. Official access to the path was removed in 2000 on grounds of safety, whilst rock climbers, for whom the gorge contains many excellent and historic climbs, were given access by a via ferrata that lead back onto the remaining Caminito.

The local government agreed to share costs of restoration of the "Caminito",[2] which it was completed in March 2015 at a cost of €2.8 million euros.[3]

The gorge runs from the end of the "Embalse del Gaitanejo" to "El Chorro". There are two extremely narrow sections at each end of the gorge with a wider bowl in between. In addition to the revitalised walkway, the old Málaga-Cordoba railway line runs through the gorge in a set of tunnels and bridges.

The gorge features prominently as a place of escape and refuge for the main characters played by Stephen Boyd and Brigitte Bardot in the 1958 movie The Night Heaven Fell. The railway and sections of the Caminito were used in the final location shots of the 1965 adventure film Von Ryan's Express.

References

  1. ↑ Alan James (January 2009). "El Chorro and other crags around Málaga". ukclimbing.com. Retrieved 2011-04-16.
  2. ↑ "La Junta pagará la mitad de la rehabilitación del Caminito del Rey" (in Spanish). Diario Sur. June 17, 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-30.
  3. ↑ "Spain to reopen perilous gorge walkway 328ft above gushing river". Daily Mail. 9 March 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.

Coordinates: 36°54′55″N 4°46′18″W / 36.91528°N 4.77167°W / 36.91528; -4.77167


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