The first via ferrata in the province of Toledo, near the Pusa river, is under suspicion. Ecologists in Action and Esparvel have reported the work (a path to practice climbing with fixed supports placed on the rock) to the Ministry of Sustainable Development for having invaded a space of high ecological value, included in the Natura 2000 network. The area in question, called “La Estrechura”, hosts and serves as a breeding place, these organizations recall, of protected species such as the black stork, the imperial eagle, the otter or the eagle owl, and the occasional presence of the Iberian lynx is documented. The Junta de Castilla-La Mancha states that this type of project does not require a prior assessment of the environmental impact, but has initiated a file to determine whether or not the plant is compatible with the management plan of the ZEC and SPA “Ríos de la Gengen Izquierda y Berrocales del Tajo” which, according to these bodies, expressly prohibits this type of plant in their most sensitive areas due to the alterations they could undergo.
This document, explains Roberto Oliveros, provincial coordinator of Ecologistas en Acción, “clearly establishes that this type of installation is not allowed, regardless of its length, in such sensitive areas”. And the stretch of the Pusa River on which this road was built, he says, is. A via ferrata is a rock climbing route equipped with spikes, steps, chains, dams, suspension bridges and steel cable to ensure the progress of climbers. “If they authorized it, they would contravene what is foreseen in the management plan. We hope that this will not be considered a fait accompli policy”, warns Oliveros, who also underlines the safety risk in the event of a possible river flood. “As far as we are concerned, it seems like an unprecedented aberration,” says the head of Ecologistas, who recalls that this type of plan “relies” on the declaration of a protected area, which, in turn, depends on state and regional environmental regulations and European directives, in this case, on habitats and birds. The organization does not exclude the use of criminal proceedings in the event of maintenance of the system.
“We have started a series of preliminary actions to verify the feasibility of the project and adopt the appropriate measures to be adopted,” José Rubén Torres, provincial delegate for Sustainable Development, explains to EL PAÍS. “There are some complaints and what the Council has done is a first agreement to evaluate the convenience or otherwise of the project and its environmental compatibility with the area in question,” he adds. The road, we remember, has permits from the Tajo Hydrographic Confederation, but the result of these actions will decide whether the structure complies with the SPA use plan or not.
“In case of violation, the responsibility would fall on the project promoter,” says the delegate. The promoter is the Municipality of Santa Ana de Pusa. Its mayor, Serafín Esteban, denies the environmentalists’ alarm and says he does not know whether the council is carrying out any kind of verification. “Nobody told us anything,” he says emphatically.
The via ferrata was completed at the beginning of October by a Granada company specialized in this type of project, but “it is not yet operational”, explains Torres. “They have done some things, but the project itself isn’t working,” he adds. The mayor claims that the plant “has all the documentation in order”, although he recognizes that its exploitation will not be put to tender “until everything is clear”. “They told us that since it wasn’t a 500 or 1,000 meter via ferrata we didn’t need an environmental impact,” he specifies, indicating to the Council or the Confederation in case of possible liability. “I don’t know if they made a mistake. We asked for permits and they gave them to us,” he insists. A sign next to the entrance prohibits its use, for the moment, even if Ecologistas en Acción and the mayor himself assure “that they have already seen people doing it”. Esteban believes that the road is not yet operational due to his decision: “Not because someone tells me.”
The system, which includes several cableways and a pendulum, as the construction company explains on its social networks, is classified according to the Hüsler scale – which measures the degree of difficulty of these routes – with K2 and K3 levels up to a maximum of 6. “It is a via ferrata for school-age children”, claims Esteban, trying to reduce the drama of an infrastructure financed, he underlines, with European funds. “It’s better not to see social networks,” he says regarding opinions against the project; encouraged, he points out, by “some angry citizens who don’t like it.” The mayor of Santa Ana de Pusa, a municipality of just 350 inhabitants located in the Toledo region of La Jara, staunchly defends the plant for the economic benefits which, according to his predictions, it will bring to a region where depopulation is being felt. “We want to move small points and things that bring people and tourism to the town and these via ferratas are now gaining great momentum,” he concludes.
