Spanish GreenWays Programme

Vías Verdes / Greenways are the result of converting disused railway lines into cycling and walking routes. Easy, accessible, far removed from motorised traffic and with hardly any steep slopes, they are specially recommended for nature lovers and people who enjoy outdoor exercise.

There are already 7.600 kilometres of disused railway lines throughout Spain (more than 135 greenways), all of which have been carefully prepared to allow you to discover the most hidden corners of our countryside.

The Greenways allow their use by all types of users: elderly people, children and even disabled people. A different way to travel along a special country with extraordinary scenery and culture: amazing valleys and mountains, impressive bridges and viaducts more than a hundred years old, mysterious tunnels that once let the trains pass through and now await the new adventurers.

There is basic information about all Vías Verdes and if you want to have further info with more detailed information of some Vías Verdes you can see at "Travel Guides".

Also, there are 2 volumes of “Guía de Vías Verdes” (see “Publicaciones”) where you can find more than 3,000 km of itineraries along abandoned railways in Spain (all of them available for cyclists) specifically conditioned and signalled. This publication is available only in Spanish, but it includes maps, pictures and useful information for accommodation, railways connections, etc., and these Guides are only available in Spain in specific bookstores or in online bookstores.

The Official Road Map published in Spain by The Ministry of Transport includes also the Greenways / “Vías Verdes”. The Vías Verdes are marked in green (with pictograms of cyclist, walker or horseman) explaining that these are routes for non-motorised users.
 
Information and order: Publications Department of Ministry of Public Works and Transport:

https://www.mitma.gob.es/carreteras/usuarios/mapa-oficial-de-carreteras or directly in bookstores.

The Vías Verdes Programme started in 1993, when the former Minister for Public Works, Transport and Environment (MOPTMA), together with the two State Railway companies (ADIF, RENFE Operadora and FEVE) commissioned the Spanish Railway Foundation (F.F.E.) the elaboration of a National Inventory of disused railway lines. This research also permitted a preliminary contact with around 1.000 local authorities.

The inventory (with an overall budget amounting to 60,000 Euro) resulted in 98 railway lines, managed by the three public authorities that commissioned the inventory, which represented a total of 5.764 kilometres, including 954 stations. In addition, this inventory collected basic information about 89 former mining and industrial private railway lines which amounted to 1.920 kilometres. As a result, in 1993 there were in Spain around 7,600 kilometres of abandoned railway lines.

The Vías Verdes Programme is the result of a cooperation agreement between Agriculture, Fishing and Food Ministry, which committed itself to set aside a sum of budget for Greenways construction, and Adif, who contributed with their abandoned lines and stations, as well as FFE which was given the responsibility for promoting, co-ordinating and informing on the programme nation-wide. The political and social support received by the Spanish Vías Verdes Programme, as well as the promotion made by the media, has been very significant. In June 2001, the National Parliament (Senado) unanimously voted a motion, encouraging the Spanish Government to improve the necessary tools and laws in order to convert all the disused railway lines around the country into Vías Verdes.

In 1998, the European Greenways Association was established in Namur with the aim to promote and inform about anything related to the creation of Greenways on a European level, and FFE was elected for the EGWA Presidency. The greatest international reward for the Spanish Vias Verdes Programme took place in October 2000, when the FFE received the United Nations Best Practices Habitat International Award. This award encouraged the FFE to organise more international initiatives with the purpose of spreading the Spanish experience as a practical reference for some other countries, specially Portugal and Latin American nations; in July of 2002 FFE organised the First International Conference about Vías Verdes in Latin America in collaboration with the United Nations and the Spanish Government.

In 2023, 30 years after its launching, the balance of the Programme in Spain has been very positive. More than 260 Million Euros have been invested in converting some 3.300 kilometres of disused railway line into 135 Vías Verdes, and there are in addition 350 new kilometres whose technical project is already finished.

From 1994 onwards, the new Ministry for the Environment has financed the Programme under the “Programa de Caminos Naturales (Natural paths Programme)” together with several regional and local authorities. In addition to this investment, is the cost of rehabilitating buildings that will be used for the installation of equipment and complementary services (in many cases, this kind of investment is higher than the cost of constructing the itinerary of the Via Verde).

Nowadays, there are 125 rail old station rehabilitated as restaurants, cafés, hotels, museums, information points, rent-a-bike services or even swimming pools.

The procedure is as follows. The local and/or regional authorities concerned draw up the “Vía Verde Viability Plan”, with the co-operation (if requested) of the FFE: the ownership status of the land is analysed and a design for the rehabilitation of the railway line into a future Greenway is defined in agreement with local authorities and associations. At this stage, a commitment for the management and maintenance of the Greenway is laid down, either via the local councils, or their communities, provincial or regional governments, or through consortia, companies or foundations set up for this specific purpose.

Once the viability study has been completed, the measures agreed are incorporated into the construction plan, whose undertaking may be financed in one of three different ways, namely: entirely from Ministry budgets, or other regional or local authorities (a formula which is gaining ground), or via a specific finance project adapted to the regional or local conditions.

Economic impacts: leisure and tourism

The Greenways constitute a novel and attractive resource for active tourism in Spain. Ecological and responsible tourism has become the most appropriate complement and alternative for the traditional beach and sun offer. In such a rugged geographical landscape as Spain's, the Vías Verdes acquire additional qualities, since more than 500 tunnels and 1,100 viaducts and bridges assure continuity and universal accessibility.

Some Greenways already have had a favourable effect on the redistribution of mass tourism: the Carrilet Vía Verde which cross a volcanic region in the foothills of the Pyrenees, arriving to the ancient city of Girona, and running into the Costa Brava. Already it received nearly 1 million visitors/year, half of whom come from other regions, particularly the Barcelona metropolitan area. The success of this route has been such, that it has encouraged local business people, hotels and restaurants owners' to request authorisation to place advertisements for their establishments along the path.

Furthermore, the positive effect of the Greenways on the areas they pass through is not limited to the tourist sector, but produce other very different dynamic effects on the local population and economy right from the beginning of its construction. These effects are more significant if depressed rural areas are considered, as in the case of the Sierra Greemway (36 km already constructed). Here, thanks to the School- Workshop training and employment programmes, groups of 60 unemployed young people from local areas have been employed for two years to rehabilitate four former stations along the Greenways and to install tourist facilities on them. Therefore, the structural renovation of these buildings alone has meant considerable public investment. In 2023 several stations (Olvera, Coripe, Zaframagón and Puerto Serrano) has been turned into rural hotels with restaurant, rural accommodation, museums, etc; the inside installations have been paid with private investment. Others station as Coripe or Zaframagon are today a new hotel and a bird watching museum. So far, the Sierra Vía Verde has permit to create 29 new jobs, and it's visited by 300.000 tourists-per year.

Promotion and dissemination

The Spanish Vías Verdes Programme is intended to stimulate the use of non-motorised means of transport, but that changes in mentality will only be achieved if proper infrastructure schemes are accompanied by training and information measures. One example of promotional activities originated in Spain which could spread to other European countries is the organisation of the National Vías Verdes Day. From 1999 onward, each second Sunday on May, the different consortia of Vías Verdes celebrate popular and festive activities, in collaboration with the citizen associations and co-ordinated by the FFE. Especially children, elderly and disabled people are encouraged to walk and cycle along the Vías Verdes, as well as politicians, professional cyclists, etc. This event is certainly very successful and is widely publicised in the media. (6.000 participants each year confirm the successful or these activity).

One of the characteristics which defines the Spanish Vías Verdes, and which gives them a special quality, is the existence of a Spanish Greenways Programme National Programme which provide homogenous signs of identity in each and every Vía Verde, which uses an identifying logo and a common denomination: “Vía Verde”. Evenly the signposting was specifically and uniformly designed for being used on the different Vías Verdes. In the past old wooden railway sleepers was used as signpost supports and as kilometre markers, and they are also used as obstacles to prevent motorised traffic to enter the green way, and particularly at road junctions.

This quality brand is one of the programme's greatest triumphs and contributes without any doubt to its promotion. A vital aspect, in this respect, has been the publication of a Vías Verdes Guide from 1997, the web site (www.viasverdes.com). This web site has 3 millions of pages visited/year; Apps on iOs or Android, leaflets, publications, videos…. So you can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube

Download the leaflet (English) >>

Further info (on Spanish): www.viasverdes.com