CAMINITO DEL REY MALAGA

Caminito Del Rey or the King’s Little Path is a perilous walkway along the cliffs of a narrow gorge in El Chorro, Andalusia. The route was originally constructed as an access path for employees at the Chorro Falls and Gaitanejo Falls hydroelectric plants. The pathway provided a way of transporting materials between the two plants. El Caminito Del Rey was completed in 1905 and got its present name from when King Alfonso XIII crossed the pathway in 1921 to inaugurate the Conde Del Guadalhorce dam. Caminito Del Rey has also been known as the most dangerous walkway in the world. Over the years the pathway fell into disrepair and there were dangerous gaps in the path with open chasms; broken handrails and sections where just the steel beams remained. Several people lost their lives trying to follow the path. It was declared unsafe in the early 2000s and closed for renovations and repairs until reopening in 2015. With the renovations a museum and car park were added. The pathway measures just 1m wide and is suspended over 100m above the river. Today 2.9km of the route can be walked along the sheer side of the gorge cliffs.