the area decades ago, such as rangers, technicians
and forest workers, it has been possible to disco-
ver, and to clear the entire two and a half kilometre
stretch of road that runs through the public mountain
of San Carlos del Tiradero, in the municipality from
Los Barrios.
Despite the time that has elapsed since the path
fell into disuse (the currently used roadway was
completed by the prisoners of the Spanish Civil War
in 1944) the tree vegetation has barely consumed
the pathway. It is still possible to see how some of
the ditches were dug out or how rocks were carefu-
lly piled on both sides of the road to allow passage.
When visitors see the newly discovered route, many
people wonder where the original cobblestones are
or whether they even existed.
Obviously after several centuries of continued
use, it would be ridiculous to expect to find the path
in its original constructed state. We are not referring
to a major route like the Appian Way, we are refe-
rring to a much smaller path in Hispania Baetica.
However, you can still see remnants of cobblestones
that have been removed in some areas. This is es-
pecially clear when the road passes through areas
of clay and waterlogging. It is in places like this that
you can understand the true meaning of the word
roadway, since the only way to find the old pathway
is to precisely follow the linear route that passes the
piles of moved rock, revealing the efforts that were
made to ensure that the route was accessible, even
during the winter.
Looking at the cartography, some curious referen-
ces can be found. At the end of the 19th century,
this route was already known as “Camino Viejo de
Tarifa”, which indicated that it was probably not
used much and that it was already very old. But it is
possible to go even further back. During the Middle
Ages it was named Ruta de los Benimerines and it
was one of the most important roads in the province.
It is not difficult to then infer that a cattle route
and a natural path of this scale, must also have been
significant in earlier periods of times. Many of us in-
tend and hope that in the future these routes are still
valued and used as a dynamic element of ecotourism
in the Valle de Ojen.
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OTWO 09 / APRIL 2020
OTWO 09 / APRIL 2020
77