Safor Greenway

Straight lines and orange blossom

The La Greenway with its long straight trail between orange groves is the best way to get to know the market gardens and orchards of southern , bordered by a maze of irrigation canals and redolent with the aroma of orange blossom.

TECHNICAL DATA

CONDITIONED GREENWAY

Straight lines and orange blossom.

LOCATION

Between Gandía and VALENCIA

Length: 7 km

Users:

Type of surface: Tarmac

Natural setting: Marjal de Pego - Oliva

Cultural heritage: Historic sites of Gandía and Oliva

Infraestructure: 1 bridge. 2 underpasses and 1 overpass

How to get there: Gandía: Renfe, suburban service línea Valencia-Gandía

(*) please ask the conditions of bike admittance in Renfe trains

Oliva: Autobús Empresa Ubesa

Connections: Valencia: 73 Km. from Gandía : 98 Km. from Oliva

Maps to use: Mapa Militar de España (Military Map of ): Scale 1:50.000. Sheet 796 Official road map of the Ministry of Public Works. Ministerio de Fomento

More information on Guía de Vías Verdes volumen 1

DESCRIPTION

Km. 0 / Km. 3 / Km. 7

Our route begins in Gandía, one of the most important cities of the southern Valencia market garden and orchard area, located on the final stretch of the river on its way down to the sea. The actual starting point is the Parc de l’Estaciò which, as its name indicates, is on the site of the former Gandía narrow gauge railway station and the present underground Renfe suburban railway station. This site, now reclaimed as an urban park, features the former station building and a semicircular arrangement of columns intended to evoke the old engine shed. One locomotive is on show next to the Tourist Office.

Km 0

Opposite the Parc de l’Estaciò, the narrow Tossal street now runs where trains from used to continue their journey onwards to Denia. This is also the starting point for Sendero de Gran Recorrido (Long Trail) GR-236 known as the “Ruta de los Monasterios” (Route of the Monasteries) which, for the first stretch towards the village of , also makes use of the old railway route. Cyclists and walkers are provided with a dedicated tarmac path, separated from the rest of the traffic by a high kerb.

Just 200m further on we reach the broad ravine carved by the river Serpis. Until 1996 this was as far as we could go along the former railway route since the old railway bridge had been dismantled at the same time the tracks were taken up. As part of the work to convert this route into a Greenway a spectacular concrete bridge was built, a more solid structure than the previous railway bridge, which elegantly spans the normally shallow waters of the river Serpis.

Once across the broad river bed of the river Serpis, our beeline route takes us in a south- easterly direction. Some 300m further on we cross under a road (CV-671) which leads down to Grao de Gandía along the right bank of the Serpis. Once having climbed the gentle incline up from the underpass we find ourselves among what are to be our constant travelling companions: orange trees. The Greenway now follows a long, straight course which cuts boldly through the regular patchwork of orange groves.

The orange groves are located in flatlands irrigated by a dense network of irrigation canals which distributes the scant water flowing in nearby rivers. At Km 1.5 we cross the first major irrigation canal, the Daimúz canal, by a modest bridge.

Km 3

At Km 3, several thousand orange trees later, our route passes over the road that runs between the town of and its beach. Throughout the area it is very normal for the traditional town centre to be inland among the orchards while, 2 or 3 km away, there is a seaside settlement. This coastline, which in days gone by used to be an unbroken sandy beach backed by orange groves, is now a built-up strip of urban development in which it is hard to tell where one town ends and another begins.

Returning to the Greenway, we continue along the easy to follow route and, shortly after leaving Bellreguard behind, we once again cross over the placid waters of the river Serpis, at this point channelled into the Madre irrigation canal.

At Km 4 we pass close to the little village of , which borders on and practically melds with its neighbour, Alquería de la Condesa. Just outside the village the Greenway once again ducks under the cars to avoid the road leading to nearby Piles.

At Km 5 we cross another irrigation canal, in the case the Piles canal. From now until we reach the end of our route at Oliva there are few surprises along the way, although we may come across people doing routine work on the orange groves whose fruit, so important to the economy of this region, finds its way into the homes of so many European countries in more northerly climes.

Km 7

From here we arrive without incident to Oliva, the end of our Greenway. It is possible to continue down to the road to Oliva beach using a green painted cycle lane. Another option (perhaps more interesting and with less traffic) is to follow this cycle lane for a kilometre before turning left towards the Municipal Sports Centre where we can follow the course of the Las Fuentes canal, which is covered for the first few metres. After about 800 metres we come across a tarmacked path and cross a bridge to the left side of the canal. This section of the canal is more ‘natural’, with plant life and some waterfowl. The surface of the trail is compacted earth and the going is completely flat

all the way to the port of Oliva and its beach (it is around 2 km from the Sports Centre to the beach on this canal service path) .

Here beside the warm is a good place to finish our excursion and, weather permitting, perhaps reward ourselves with a relaxing dip after our walk or bike ride.

MAPS

PROFILE

RAILWAY HISTORY

This Greenway is based on the route of the Carcaixent- Denia railway, undoubtedly the oldest narrow gauge railway on the Spanish mainland. The first section, between Carcaixent and Gandía, dates back to 1864 when an animal-drawn tram service was introduced, running on 35 km of tracks. After a long, drawn out process during which the railway concession changed hands several times, in 1884 the line was extended as far as Denia, now as a conventional railway drawn by steam locomotives.

The railway was essentially agricultural by nature, and from the time of its full inauguration it belonged to the broad gauge railway company with which it linked up at Carcaixent: first to Ferrocarriles Almansa, Valencia y Tarragona (AVT) and later to Ferrocarriles del Norte. It would have passed over to Renfe when this state-owned company was created, but Renfe operated only broad gauge railways so the line was first run by EFE (Explotación de Ferrocarriles por el Estado) and then by FEVE, the last company to operate it.

The railway’s quiet existence came to an end in 1969 when the Carcaixent-Gandía section was closed down due to the fact that part of that route was to be covered by a modern suburban train service running from Valencia via Silla-. The first broad gauge trains arrived at Gandía in 1972 and it was not long before plans were made to extend the service to Denia.

While this project was under study, the Gandía-Denia section of narrow gauge railway was closed down in December 1974, and the tracks were pulled up in the expectation that the route would be reopened as a broad gauge suburban line. After years of abandonment during which there were many attempts to reopen the railway, the route has once again made the news. Now hundreds of cyclists and hikers of every kind and condition now ride or walk the 7 km that separate Gandía from Oliva, the stretch that has been reclaimed as a Greenway by the Ministry of the Environment.

INTERESTING DATA

1. Festivals and holidays 2. Accommodation 3. Eco-tourism 4. Town Councils 5. Emergencies 6. Coaches & buses 7. Railway

Festivals and holidays

Gandía mach 16-19 Fallas,(fireworks and bonfires),declared of National Tourist Interest

March - April Semana Santa (Easter), declared of National Tourist Interest

End of September Fiestas de San Francisco de Borja

December 24 Canto de la Sibila (a liturgical drama and Gregorian chant) at the Santa Ana hermitage

Oliva January 17 Els Porrats

Lent Fiestas de San Vicente. Week of bull runs

March 15-19 Fallas (fireworks and bonfires)

May 3 Fiestas del Cristo de San Roque

Last Sunday in June Fiestas Mayores

Third weekend in July Fiestas de (Moors and Christians Festival)

September 1-8 Fiestas de la Virgen del Rebollet

Note: The term ‘fiestas’ refer to local holidays and festivals, often held in honour of the patron saint of the town or village

Accommodation

Alcoi Hotel Borgia***. Telf. 96 287 81 09

Hotel La Safor*. Telf. 96 286 40 11

Hotel Los Naranjos* Telf. 96 287 31 43

Hostal Duque Carlos* Telf. 96 287 28 44

Cámping L'Alquería. 2ª categoría Telf. 96 284 04 70

Cámping La Naranja. 2ª categoría Telf. 96 284 16 16

Playa de Gandía: Hotel Bayren I****. Telf. 96 284 03 00

Hotel Bayren II**** Telf. 96 284 07 00

Hotel Porto*** Telf. 96 284 17 23

Hotel Mengual* Telf. 96 284 21 02 Hostal El Nido** Telf. 96 284 46 40

Hostal Fin de Semana* Telf. 96 284 00 97

Oliva Oficina de Turismo Telf. 96 285 55 28

Complejo turístico Oliva Nova Golf**** Telf. 96 285 33 00

Hotel Pau Pi** Telf. 96 285 12 02

Hotel Azahar* Telf. 96 283 86 07

Hostal Tropical* Telf. 96 285 06 02

Cámping Kiko Telf. 96 285 09 05

Cámping Olé. 1ª cat Telf. 96 285 75 17

Cámping Azul. 2ª categoría Telf. 96 285 41 06

Cámping Eurocámping. 2ª cat Telf. 96 285 40 98.

Cámping Pepe. 2ª categoría. Telf. 96 285 75 19

Cámping Bon Dia. 2ª categoría Telf. 96 285 75 00

Eco-tourism

Gandía: Oficina de Turismo. Telf. 96 287 77 88. @touristinfo.net

Playa de Gandía: Oficina de Turismo. Telf. 96 284 24 07; 96 284 52 17. [email protected] Entretes: Telf. 96 287 65 14. www.entretes.com. Rutas culturales.

Centro excursionista. Telf. 96 287 03 36.

Grupo Montanyec. Telf. 96 285 14 95. Club Alpino. Telf. 96 280 20 55.

Gandía: C Vici-Natura Sabor. 96 287 78 75

Peña ciclista BENIOPA. Telf. 96 286 27 76.

Oliva: Oficina de Turismo. Telf. 96 285 55 28. www.tourist-oliva.com

Grupo Ecologista Samaruc. Telf. 96 285 00 63.

Town Councils

Gandía Telf. 96 295 94 00

Oliva Telf. 96 285 02 50

Emergencies

EMERGENCIES: Telf. 062

Coaches & buses

Oliva Autobuses La Amistad. Telf. 96 287 44 10. Autobuses

Olibús, línea Oliva-Playa. Telf. 96 285 43 28.

Empresa Ubesa, línea Oliva-Valencia. Telf. 96 349 72 22. Estación de Valencia.

Gandía. Grupo Alsa, línea Oliva-Valencia. Telf. 902 42 22 42. Gandía – Playa. La Marina Gandiense . Telf. 96 287 18 06.

Railway

Gandía Renfe Cercanías. Telf. 902 24 02 02. www.renfe.es

LINKS www.comunitatvalenciana.com Portal oficial de turismo de la Comunitat Valenciana. www.costablanca.org La Diputación de Alicante ofrece a través de esta web la información turística más completa de la provincia de Alicante: rutas, alojamientos, restaurantes y gastronomía, museos y fiestas... www.gandiaturismo.com Web del Ayuntamiento de Gandia con información relativa al municipio, alojamientos, playas, rutas, gastronomía, transporte, cultura, deporte y ocio. www.tourist-oliva.com El portal turístico de Oliva dispone de todo tipo de información sobre la actualidad turística del municipio.