Walkers on the Caminito del Rey path earlier this month (spain-holiday.com)
The world's most dangerous walkway will be opened to the public this Easter for the first time in 14 years
Spain’s three kilometre-long cliff-side path,
built 100 metres above the Desfiladero del los Gaitanes gorge, was
closed in 2001 following five deaths in 1999 and 2000.
Daredevil tourists continued to try their luck along it however,
prompting local officials to launch a $3.36m (£2.23m) scheme ten years
ago to renovate it.
Now that a glass
floor has been installed and the final planks laid, the walk will
reopen to the public during Holy Week, which begins on March 29,
according to Elías Bendodo, the president of the Diputación Provincial
de Málaga.
John Kramer, a local who walked the path in April 2013, remembers it being “completely insane”.
“One of the most worrying things on the day [of my previous walk], was
the safety cable had snapped a month previously - an Italian climber
fell over 80m and miraculously, not only survived, but walked away
unscathed. Needless to say, it didn't inspire much confidence!"
He is so sure that the new path is safer however, that he intends to take his family along with him to try it.
The newly-built Caminito del Rey seen earlier this month (spain-holiday.com)
“The opening is exciting," he added, "it's now time to visit with my children. I just hope its popularity with day trippers won't ruin the area too much.”
A close-up of the new walkway show a hairy section of the old walkway alongside it (spain-holiday.com)
The 110-year-old walkway, set in the village of El Chorro, north west of Málaga, has been fixed with a new wooden pathway and equipped with safety lines and steel bolts for visitors, who will be required to wear a helmet to walk across it.
Walkers on Caminito del Rey in 2006 (Gabi / Flickr)
The dizzying path, set above the Guadalhorce River, will be opened from Tuesday to Sunday in the summer and winter.
Entry will be free during the first six months, with nearly 30,000 tourists already booked to brave the new pathway, according to local media. Tickets are available at caminitodelrey.com. Public transport between the start and end of the walkway is being improved also.
Caminito del Rey (the 'Kings’s walkway') was completed in 1905 and was used by construction workers carrying goods to the Guadalhorce dam. Its royal association came when it was inaugurated by King Alfonso XIII in 1921.
Overview of Caminito del Rey (Fotolia/AP)
He is so sure that the new path is safer however, that he intends to take his family along with him to try it.
The newly-built Caminito del Rey seen earlier this month (spain-holiday.com)
“The opening is exciting," he added, "it's now time to visit with my children. I just hope its popularity with day trippers won't ruin the area too much.”
A close-up of the new walkway show a hairy section of the old walkway alongside it (spain-holiday.com)
The 110-year-old walkway, set in the village of El Chorro, north west of Málaga, has been fixed with a new wooden pathway and equipped with safety lines and steel bolts for visitors, who will be required to wear a helmet to walk across it.
Walkers on Caminito del Rey in 2006 (Gabi / Flickr) The dizzying path, set above the Guadalhorce River, will be opened from Tuesday to Sunday in the summer and winter.
Entry will be free during the first six months, with nearly 30,000 tourists already booked to brave the new pathway, according to local media. Tickets are available at caminitodelrey.com. Public transport between the start and end of the walkway is being improved also.
Caminito del Rey (the 'Kings’s walkway') was completed in 1905 and was used by construction workers carrying goods to the Guadalhorce dam. Its royal association came when it was inaugurated by King Alfonso XIII in 1921.
Overview of Caminito del Rey (Fotolia/AP) 
