Cristina Hodgson
HEAVY rains last December caused damaging landslides along a section of Malaga’s famous gorge walkway.
Despite the Caminito having protection meshes on all the slopes where landslides can occur, a 20-metre section of the walkway was destroyed by some 4,000 tonnes of rock that fell on the path, and saw the popular hiking path closed for several days.
The walkway was then partially reopened three days later, with a circular route having an entrance and exit from the southern area, thus avoiding the area affected by the landslides whilst repair works were carried out.
Finally, after some six weeks of work clearing, fixing and strengthening the area where the landslides occurred, the walkways will be back to its usual route.
The affected footbridge has now been restored and the walls on both sides of the gorge have been stabilised following a thorough, high resolution topography and 3D imaging scan to detect risk points.
Since the walkway was first opened, priority by the management company has always been given to guarantee the safety of visitors.
In fact the path is closed for a day every week for maintenance work.
Additionally, every day, before visitors start their visit, maintenance staff walk the entire route to check that there are no incidents on the path.
Furthermore, there are 56 cameras along the entire route to detect any anomaly that may occur during the visits, and there are around twenty protective nets in case of landslides.
Some 1,100 people visit the Caminito del Rey every day.
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