{"id":174561,"date":"2025-10-05T13:23:02","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T13:23:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/spain-is-home-to-numerous-abandoned-unique-roads-there-are-now-efforts-to-preserve-them-by-designating-them-as-historical-roads\/"},"modified":"2025-10-05T13:23:04","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T13:23:04","slug":"spain-is-home-to-numerous-abandoned-unique-roads-there-are-now-efforts-to-preserve-them-by-designating-them-as-historical-roads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/spain-is-home-to-numerous-abandoned-unique-roads-there-are-now-efforts-to-preserve-them-by-designating-them-as-historical-roads\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain is home to numerous abandoned, unique roads. There are now efforts to preserve them by designating them as “historical roads.”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If we have the roads we have today, it was because 125 years ago a \u00a0Scottish\u00a0 and a \u00a0Welsh\u00a0 individual were fed up with the dusty roads during the nascent years of the automobile. Consequently, these pioneers initiated the \u00a0asphalting\u00a0 of numerous paths, some of which became integral to the country’s infrastructure. However, as time progressed, many of these roads fell into disrepair, overshadowed by modern highways. In an effort to revive these historical routes, the Government of Spain is now taking action to give them a second life.<\/p>\n

Across the nation, numerous \u00a0national roads\u00a0 are in a state of disrepair. While maintenance budgets are often allocated to the most-used highways, many lesser-traveled roads have been \u00a0neglected\u00a0. To address this issue, the Spanish Government is set to launch a program in \u00a02025\u00a0 aimed at recovering and preserving these historical roads, starting with a section of the \u00a0N-IV\u00a0 that winds through \u00a0Despe\u00f1aperros\u00a0.<\/p>\n

Spain and Its New “Historical Roads”<\/h2>\n

At the beginning of September this year, the \u00a0Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility\u00a0, together with the \u00a0Foundation of the Spanish Railways\u00a0, signed a collaboration agreement with an important goal: the \u00a0restoration\u00a0 of historical roads within the State Road Network.<\/p>\n

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The initiative aims to identify certain routes as \u00a0“historical assets linked to transport,”\u00a0 emphasizing their historical significance in fostering population movement and trade before being replaced by modern alternatives. The agreement allocates a \u00a0budget of 300,000 euros\u00a0, funded partially by the Ministry of Transportation and the Foundation of the Railways, to identify which routes are suitable for designation as “historical roads” over the next four years.<\/p>\n

This project mirrors the success of the \u00a0‘Green Roads’\u00a0 program, which has transformed over 3,500 kilometers of old railway paths into trails for \u00a0non-motorized\u00a0 use. Many municipalities benefit from these \u00a0Green Ways\u00a0, which offer scenic paths for hiking and biking, complete with shade trees and parks.<\/p>\n

Similar objectives are intended for the new historical roads initiative, aiming to halt the deterioration and eventual loss of these unique routes while enhancing their value in the \u00a0historical infrastructure\u00a0 of Spain. The project, dubbed \u00a0Ivapchete\u00a0, will also prioritize the roads based on their \u00a0heritage value\u00a0 and associated elements.<\/p>\n

Although the initial focus is on the Spanish road network, the program might expand to include roads managed by other governmental bodies if they share historical ties with the state network.<\/p>\n

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\n Perhaps the Map of the National Special Firm Circuit of 1926 can give us a clue about other candidates.<\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Additionally, a \u00a0pilot project\u00a0 is already underway: the \u00a0Despe\u00f1aperros\u00a0 initiative. In the coming months, the General Directorate of Roads will develop a recovery project for the \u00a0N-IV\u00a0 road segment, specifically the \u00a0Despe\u00f1aperros Pass\u00a0. This 28.6-kilometer stretch connects \u00a0Almuradiel\u00a0, Ciudad Real, and \u00a0Santa Elena\u00a0, Ja\u00e9n.<\/p>\n

The historical significance of this route cannot be overstated; it has long served as the principal access point between \u00a0Castilla-La Mancha\u00a0 and \u00a0Andaluc\u00eda\u00a0. Serving as a \u00a0symbol of territorial unity\u00a0, it facilitated both trade and mobility between the central plateau and the southern region of Spain. Historically, before it was designated as \u00a0N-IV\u00a0, it functioned as a critical artery for centuries until it was eclipsed by the more convenient \u00a0A-4\u00a0 highway.<\/p>\n

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Now, it will \u00a0come back to life\u00a0 as the first “historical road,” promoting non-motorized mobility while recognizing its cultural importance. The impact of this revitalization, along with the potential for recovering other significant routes, remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

Images | Emilio J. Rodr\u00edguez Posada<\/a>, Concepcion Amat orta<\/a><\/p>\n

In \u00a0Xataka\u00a0 | These are the roads where we can suffer more jams in summer. If you have to take the car, you are in time to plan.<\/p>\n


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General News – 2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If we have the roads we have today, it was because 125 years ago a \u00a0Scottish\u00a0 and a \u00a0Welsh\u00a0 individual were fed up with the dusty roads during the nascent years of the automobile. Consequently, these pioneers initiated the \u00a0asphalting\u00a0 of numerous paths, some of which became integral to the country’s infrastructure. However, as time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":174562,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36399],"tags":[3881,42645,1664,950,1134,23668,5306,841,1694,1213],"class_list":["post-174561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-abandoned","tag-designating","tag-efforts","tag-historical","tag-home","tag-numerous","tag-preserve","tag-roads","tag-spain","tag-unique"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}