A major attraction in El Chorro, near Malaga in Spain is only for those with no fear of heights. El Caminito del Rey (King’s Little Pathway) was built to give workers access to a new dam they were building. Meanwhile, 20 years later, King Alfonso XIII used the same suspended walkway to inaugurate the dam. Read on to find out about this popular attraction and how people are being protected from the elements.

El Caminito del Rey, El Chorro, Malaga Province

These days, the suspended walkway high above the gorge is a great attraction for daredevils with no fear of height and has been for some time. However, it did have a bad reputation in the past when people fell from the walkway, even when it was closed to the public.

Some years back it was renovated to make it safe to walk and was reopened to the public and is considered to be safe to traverse, at least when the weather is good. Of course, with recent heatwaves across Spain, the safety aspect is being challenged.

Walkway to get its own Aemet weather station

Summer in southern Spain is always hot, with temperatures soaring in July and August of every year. However, this year, the area has suffered record-breaking heatwaves, one after another, which has led to unusual storms and heavy rainfall in the area. With the walkway’s exposure to the elements and the dramatic drops below, El Caminito del Rey walkway is getting its own official Aemet weather station.

As reported by Sur in English, the decision to give the walkway its own weather station is to ensure greater safety for visitors and workers, as it is one of Malaga Province’s major tourist attractions. The newspaper wrote that El Caminito del Rey is vulner`able to landslides, especially during recent storms with torrential rain.

This has led Malaga’s provincial authority to place the weather station to give meteorologists more accurate data relating to the weather and local conditions.

Up until now, the data utilized was supplied by the weather station in Coín, the closest town to El Chorro. Meanwhile, the weather station will offer weather data from other nearby areas, including Ardales, Álora and Carratraca.

Speaking of the plans, Marcelino Méndez-Trelles, the director of El Caminito del Rey, said:

This will help us to guarantee the safety of visitors and workers.

Addressing risks in other aspects

“The Diputación has been working on the creation of an integrated Health and Safety Management System to navigate geological, forest fire, biotic, natural and climatic risks,” explained Cristóbal Ortega. “We will be able to have reliable, accurate and truthful data from El Caminito del Rey, not from a weather station 50 or 60 kilometers [31 miles or 37 miles] away.”

As the weather keeps changing it’s good to know that El Caminito del Rey offers added protection for travelers experiencing the suspended walkway. Readers can watch hikers heading to the walkway in El Chorro in the video included here: