Caminito del Rey

The Guadalhorce, on its way down to Málaga, forces its way through a limestone barrier in a gorge that narrows in places to about ten metres between sheer walls: the Desfiladero de los Gaitanes. Along one of those walls, more than 100 metres above the river, runs a path pinned to the rock. The Caminito del Rey began as a strictly practical thing. Between 1901 and 1905 a walkway about a metre wide, concrete laid on steel rails driven into the cliff, was built so that workers could move between the hydroelectric plants at the Chorro and Gaitanejo falls. In 1921 King Alfonso XIII walked it when he came to inaugurate the Conde del Guadalhorce dam upstream, and the workmen's path has carried the name "the King's little path" ever since.

For much of the 20th century it was left to decay. Sections of concrete fell away, leaving bare rails and gaps over the drop, and the path acquired a reputation as one of the most dangerous walks in the world; after fatal accidents around 2000 its ends were closed off. The ruined walkway also had a screen career, appearing in films including Von Ryan's Express. In 2011 the regional government approved a restoration of about nine million euros, and on 29 March 2015 a new boardwalk opened, laid just above the remains of the old one – so as you walk, you can look down at the crumbling concrete and bare rails of the original below your feet.

The modern route covers about 2.9 km of walkway along the gorge, and it is the landscape rather than the vertigo that stays with you. After the first gorge the path leaves the cliffs and crosses the Valle del Hoyo, an open basin ringed by mountains, before entering the second and most dramatic defile, where the limestone rises sheer on both sides. The railway line that follows the valley crosses the gorge on a green metal bridge, and near the end a hanging footbridge carries walkers high across the void. The whole route lies within the Desfiladero de los Gaitanes natural area.

Getting there

The walk runs one way, north to south, from the northern access near Ardales (El Kiosko) to El Chorro, where there is a railway station on the line from Málaga. The visitor reception centre is about 6 km from Ardales and about 58 km from Málaga; Antequera is roughly 22 km away in a straight line. The nearest airport is Málaga–Costa del Sol (AGP), about 36 km away. A shuttle bus links the two ends, and helmets are handed out at the entrance.