[Note: old post. The Camino del Rey is now open to the public.]
It’s entirely possible to spend days watching videos – cute kittens, favourite bands, Michael Thomas’s goal against Liverpool in 1989 – and we never tire of these amazing films of El Camino del Rey – the King’s Walkway (sometimes El Caminito del Rey).
For six vertigo-inducing minutes you’re taken on a stroll along the narrow, concrete path that’s pinned to the side of the rock 40 kilometres from Málaga. It’s falling apart – and people have fallen from it to their deaths. You can even go on an unofficial tour with no experience of climbing (you just need to be aged 12+).
There’s a steel wire attached to the rock face which you can clip yourself on to. But those pants are going to fill, no matter what.
It was built in the early 1900s to allow workers at Chorro Falls and Gaitanejo Falls to inspect, maintain and have easier access to the hydroelectric power plants there.
In 1921 King Alfonso XIII used the path when he opened the Conde del Guadalhorce dam – and gave it the name it’s known by today.
Daniel Ahmen made the first film below. It’s been reported that he died in 2011 while climbing in the Himalayas.
The second film is equally as good and perhaps even more terrifying.
Related post:
Castillo Arabe y el Parque del Salado, Lanjarón
© con jamón spain
con jamón spain 
OOHHHHH you can’t half go off people!! What do you mean “Michael Thomas’s goal AGAINST Liverpool”?? Why would anyone want to watch anyone score a goal against God’s chosen team? 😉
Posted by Marianne | November 18, 2013, 6:05 pmDon’t get us started on Tottenham Hotspur…although a much easier target by far…
Posted by con jamón spain | November 18, 2013, 6:08 pmHi Ron,
Go on give it a try!! we did last week and filmed the occasion. Hope you like the video more than I did making it 🙂 http://www.spain-holiday.com/Alora/articles/el-caminito-del-rey-malaga – in all seriousness I wouldn’t recommend anyone doing it. The path is in a very bad way and the safety wire is not to be trusted. An Italian climber came down in March after the wire snapped. Amazingly he only suffered fractured ribs after an 80+ metre fall!!!
Posted by John | May 21, 2013, 1:06 pmHi Ron – Not sure we could do it either – even strapped on with the wire…
Posted by con jamón | April 11, 2013, 2:18 pmOh, watched this a while ago, scared the shit out of me, going close in couple of weeks, but never this walk 😉
Saludos, Ron.
Posted by rondje | April 11, 2013, 11:10 am