Conquering the Heart of SpainVÍAS VERDES

AROUND&ABOUTVÍAS VERDESTEXTANKE VAN WIJCK ADÁNPHOTOSJUAN MANUEL SANZ/ICEXThe Greenways are a nationwidenetwork of non-motorized, wellsurfacedroutes that have beenspecifically planned to accommodatehikers, bikers, and in most cases, thephysically challenged. What makesthese Greenways truly special is theirconvenience and natural beauty.They follow, in entirety, formerrailway tracks in disuse. As traditionhas it, railways are structured to beas flat and straight as possible, sotheir Greenways offspring are notonly easily accessible, safe andcomfortable, but in cutting acrossthe countryside, at every turn, theyoffer different, yet always fascinatingscenery, and a chance to trulyexperience nature.What makes traveling the Greenwayseven more interesting is the fact thatSpain’s countryside is speckled withpicturesque villages that rival Romanaqueducts, Moorish castles,Romanesque bridges and medievalmonasteries, as Spain also happensto hold one of the world’s largestnumber of cultural, historical andnatural National and World Heritagesites. And last but by no means least,there is Spain’s gastronomy, bothtraditional and innovative, that overthe last decade has earned moresuperlatives worldwide than anyother. Whichever Greenway youdecide to take, it will no doubt be afeast for the senses.This first installment, which focuseson northern Spain, will take us alongboth the Vía Verde del Río Oja and theVía Verde de la Sierra de la Demanda,two almost contiguous routes that,while very different, also have manyaspects in common, since whatseparates them is the majestic Sierra ofthe same name.How it all came aboutUntil the end of the 19 th century, dueto taxing orographical conditions, agreat portion of Spain had remainedbarely accessible. The railway seemedan appropriate response to theincreasing demand for goods,especially ore and coal, in areas wherethey did not originate. Consequently, aconsiderable number of narrow trackswere laid throughout the country, butsoon became obsolete or were nevereven put to use due to thedevelopment of road structures soonthereafter. As a result, over 7,500km (4,657 mi) of often seriouslydilapidated, overgrown or floodedrailway tracks throughout thecountry have been patiently awaitingan alternative use. This momentcame when, in 1993, the SpanishRailway Foundation commissioned anationwide inventory that not onlyrevealed the abovementioned lengthof tracks but also nearly a thousandstations, another thousand bridges,five hundred tunnels and a hundredmining facilities. Its commissioner,the then Ministry of Public Works,Transport, and Environment,provided the initial funding tojump-start rehabilitation of a selectnumber of routes.Procedures and funding for thecreation and maintenance of past,present, and future Vías Verdes canbe rather complex, especially as ineach case the players involved aredifferent. “Each Vía Verde is a worldof its own,” explains Carmen Aycart,the director general of the SpanishRailway Foundation. Always underthe auspices and coordination of herorganization and in collaborationwith the Ministry of EnvironmentalAffairs, there can be any confluenceof citizen associations, town andregional councils, the Ministries ofTransport, Labour and Tourism, the56 JANUARY-APRIL 2008 SPAIN GOURMETOUR