Castalla receives aid of 3,680 euros for the project to recover the old railway track

• The work will connect the municipality with the interior green corridor of the Province of Alicante, within the Mediterranean route ‘Eurovelo 8’

Castalla has received a subsidy of 3,680.50 euros from the Provincial Council of Alicante to recover the old train track as a greenway, which represents 85% of the total of 4,330 euros that the drafting of the project will cost. This track will connect the municipality with the interior green corridor of the province of Alicante, within the Mediterranean route ‘Eurovelo 8’. The Department of Tourism and Tourist Info have been working since 2015 on the improvement and recovery of the old railway track in the municipality, a task that is now being carried out in this corridor.

Entering into the detail of the plan for the greenway of Castalla, the Councillor for Tourism, Maite Gimeno, has declared that “our intention is to connect the path of La Foia with two other greenways, to the south with the Maigmó-Agost and to the north with Ibi and Alcoy, to create a long route between Alcoy and Alicante”. During the five years of work to find a way to reconvert the greenway, the council has had the advice and help of Funbici, an organization focused on promoting cycling and sustainable mobility.

The head of tourism explained that “during the next two years we will recover all the road surface and we will signpost and mark the route”. In addition, Gimeno has assured that “we will pay special attention to the 10 conflictive points that we have detected, so that it is a safe and sustainable route”.

The green route in the municipality of Castellón is part of the ‘Eurovelo 8’ project, the 3,600 km Mediterranean route created to enjoy cycling. Of this total, a route of 12.5 km will belong to the municipality of La Foia de Castalla. This is made concrete in the detailed and exhaustive report that the engineer Javier Cuenca has presented to the city council. With regard to the help of the Provincial Council of Alicante, the corporation has requested it through the Costa Blanca Tourism Board, in the line of ‘Sustainable Tourism and Tourism Intelligence’.

Castalla Town Hall, committed to sustainable mobility
The recovery of the greenway is the main project of the Castellut City Council in terms of mobility, but the government team is also working on other ideas related to it. The mayor of Tourism has advanced that “we are studying the strategic places of the municipality to implement bicycle lanes and parking for this means of transport, which can connect with the ‘Eurovelo 8’, and also with the bicycle lanes of Biar and Onil”.

According to Maite Gimeno, “climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic must be the turning point for people and institutions to focus all efforts on sustainable mobility”.