Relleu is a pretty standard small mountain town in the province of Alicante. Having parked in the municipal car park and wandered its narrow streets, it’s a nice enough place but probably not really worth the effort of visiting. It does, though, have a rather unique attraction in these parts and therefore its popularity is likely to grow. The Pasarela de Relleu is a series of gravity defying boardwalks along the side of a nearby ravine where you can push your vertigo to its limits!
I’ll begin by saying that the hanging boardwalks felt nowhere near as death-defying as they may look. As you would expect, it all felt incredibly safe. Hopefully that has reassured anyone who doesn’t feel they can do this. You do need a modicum of fitness and mobility though as there is a 1.4km walk from the nearest place you can park your car and that is on footpaths in the countryside. (We walked down from Rellu. More about that later.) Make sure you check out how many tickets are left at the time you want to arrive, and allow time for that walk from the car. We didn’t buy in advance as hardly any had been sold but at busier times of the year it’s probably a wise idea to avoid disappointment. Only 20 people can start the walk in every 15 minute slot. At the time of writing the cost was €3.50 per person and there are restrictions on pets and equipment.
As for the challenge of walking 60 metres above the ravine floor, well it was definitely worth doing. There was quite a mix of nationality and age-range when it came to our fellow walkers. The biggest disappointment was the glass-bottomed viewing platforms. Muddy footprints obscured the see-through panels and so we never got that feeling of walking out over the void. If you really want that experience, perhaps take an old cloth with you and clean it yourself! The route is around 850m as a round trip and the steps take you all the way down to just 20m above the trickle of a river on the canyon floor. For those with a genuine fear of heights, it’s going to be more challenging because there is no barrier – simply a heavy duty wire railing to hold onto as you walk along. Check out the video at the foot of this blog. Future plans are for a suspension bridge to take you to the opposite wall and a similar system of hanging boardwalks to bring you back to the start. We’ll definitely be back for that, and in the mean time we’ll no doubt return if we have visitors wanting to see this marvel of engineering.
If you enjoy hiking in the countryside, the walk down from Relleu and back is definitely worth it. It was about 11km as a round trip including the pasarela and it is well signposted. We descended down through olive groves and past almond trees on the cusp of blossoming. When they break into flower it’s going to be a spectacular sight. The lower part of the trail was on the road which was disappointing but at least it ensured that we couldn’t go wrong. It’s obvious where cars park for the short walk to the pasarela and a short distance before the entrance booth you’ll see the footpath leading you back to Relleu along some old shepherd’s tracks. This part of the walk was stunning and we are so pleased we didn’t simply go back the way we came. We were so lucky to see the snow on Aitana too which made the views even more spectacular. A word of warning: if you do this walk in the summer there is very little shade along the way!
Back to the town and we arrived having just missed a big festival. At least we got to see the beautiful sight of a well decorated main square. La Matança (the slaughter) is celebrated on the day of St. Anthony (closest weekend to Jan 17th) in memory of the date when, historically the locals slaughtered their pigs. At the end of the ceremony the public are invited to taste the meat and enjoy music by the town band. If you search for more information about San Antonio del Porquet there are some gruesome photos and descriptions around. If you are squeamish or vegetarian you might want to avoid having a closer look!!
Still unsure if this is a walk for you? Have a look at this video and then decide, but please bear in mind that photos and videos have a much more dramatic vibe to them than the reality! It’s definitely worth a trip. Go on, challenge yourself!! And if it’s just too much for you, head down to the Almeria coast and try the much tamer Hanging Bridge of Jolúcar.
Have you been to Relleu? What did you make of the experience? Please let us know in the comments below.
