New section of Spain's Caminito del Rey to open in October

IN October the Diputación plans to open to the public a new section of the Gran Senda de Málaga already known as the Caminito del Rey.

It is a mountainous path between Canillas de Aceituno and Sedella, in the natural park of Sierras Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama, and where the most spectacular area of ​​the route corresponds to the pedestrian walkways of the place known as El Saltillo.
The deputy for the Environment, Interior Tourism and Climate Change, Cristóbal Ortega, confirmed the plan is to have this section of the Caminito del Rey open to the public, free of charge, at the beginning of October; the month in which the high season of hiking routes begins.
The works, as he explained, are practically completed and he stressed that with its start-up this area will become “a new attraction” for tourism in the region.
One of the most complicated works has been the placement, in Canillas de Aceituno, of a suspension bridge 46 metres long and suspended 50 metres above the riverbed in an area near the La Rahije.
Given the orographic difficulties, the material for its construction had to be transported by helicopter and the operators have worked in the air in recent weeks tied with ropes. The works of this structure, according to Ortega, are already well advanced and waiting to carry out load and suspension tests.
Likewise, some metal walkways that have existed for a few years, located more than a hundred metres high, built on rocky ledges and old masonry walls through which an old ditch runs, are also being adapted for hiking, since they are currently not operational.
In the Sedella area, various actions are being carried out on the trails, with vegetation clearing, excavations and masonry works to strengthen the terrain.
In the surroundings closest to the Almanchares river ravine, some more complicated passage areas are also intervened with chain handles, like handrails, and the installation of isolated steps made of grooved bars embedded in the rock.
This new path is part of stage number 7 of the Great Path (the initiative of the Provincial Council to connect the province through hiking routes), which connects Cómpeta and Canillas de Aceituno with a 25-kilometre route where there has been an investment of almost €600,000 and that in its final part has this particular Caminito del Rey.