24 July, 2015

By VIVA Team

The El Caminito del Rey footpath at El Chorro Gorge is free to walk along until the end of this summer… but you can now do it from the comfort of your sofa.

It has been dubbed ‘the most dangerous walkway in the world’, and had been closed for 15 years following the deaths of five intrepid walkers before it was repaired and reopened in March this year – and now El Caminito del Rey has been traversed by none other than Google Streetview…

The wooden walkway snakes along the cliffs of the El Chorro Gorge, which cuts a dramatic swathe through the stunning Álora landscape near Málaga.

Just a metre wide and 7.7 km long, El Caminito del Rey is one of the most hair-raising pursuits one can enjoy in Andalucía, but became infamous for being just a little too near-the-knuckle after five people plunged to their deaths in 1999 and 2000.

Unsurprisingly, the walkway was closed shortly afterwards and its future thrown into doubt. However, an extensive series of repairs and renovations meant that the pathway was deemed fit to reopen in March this year, and was quickly listed by Lonely Planet as one of the world’s best new attractions.

It is, however, most certainly not for the fainthearted. The wooden footpath rises to some 300 metres above the ground in some places, and although the €2.7 million renovation has cut no corners, the experience is still rather on the white knuckle side of fun.

Enter Google. The tech giant’s famous Streetview team have been along the path, using specially mounted ‘Trekker’ cameras to snap endless images of the route at 360-degree angles. The result is a smooth, impressive journey along the entire route… and the trip can be enjoyed from the comfort and safety of your sofa.

Google has said that it will add 50 of Spain’s greatest attractions to its Streetview service over the course of the next few years, including the iconic Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona and Granada’s famous Alhambra.