El Caminito del Rey

The king’s little pathway was built to provide a means for workers at the hydroelectric power plants at Chorro Falls and Gaitanejo Falls to move equipment and themselves between the plants without taking time-consuming detours using ordinary roads. Construction began in 1901 and was finished in 1905. In 1921, King Alfonso XIII crossed the walkway for the inauguration of the dam Conde del Guadalhorce, and it then became known by its present name. The walkway is 1 meter in width, and rises over 100 meters above the river below.

The path wasn’t needed when the power plants had been built and was left without any form of maintenance for many years, and thus fell into decay, making it very dangerous to set foot upon.
After a couple of accidents with deadly outcome in the late nineties the path was closed in the year 2000. But that only made it more of a challenge to some, and people began to trespass and walk the path anyway.

The Andalusian authorities after a couple of years decided to restore the path and El Caminito del Rey 2.0 was reopened at Easter time 2015. Plexiglass fences have been put up and the concrete pathway has been restored. Only a limited number of people are allowed each day and it is mandatory to make a reservation on the internet. As of May 2015 it still is free of charge.

Here is a link to some videos on the official web site: Videos