After the fires and with half its length, Passadiços do Paiva has already reopened
The decision to reopen the Paiva Walkways to visitors was taken this Friday after a safety assessment carried out by technicians from the Arouca City Council. With restrictions due to the fires that destroyed around 2 km of the wooden structure, affecting the first section, between the Alvarenga Bridge staircase and the 516 Arouca Suspension Bridge, the award-winning walkways reopened this Saturday morning.
For now, it is only possible to travel along the Espiunca-Vau section, as explained on the official website of the Passadicos do Paivaclarifying that access is provided exclusively by Espiunca, so it is mandatory to travel back to the starting point. The section now open to the public is around 4 km long, that is, practically half of the total number of walkways, which is 8.7 km.
The remaining route along the cliffs on the bank of the Paiva River will remain closed for a few months, until full repair of the approximately 2 km destroyed by the fire, an area that includes the staircase with 450 steps from Praia Fluvial do Areinho.
Suspension bridge 516 Arouca
Access to the Paiva Walkways costs €1, purchased onlineor €2, if purchased on site and is subject to availability, as there is a maximum capacity of visitors. According to information from the promoters of Passadiços do Paiva, anyone wishing to make payments in cash can only do so at the Arouca Interactive Tourism Store. At the entrance to the equipment, in Espiunca, only payment by bank card is available.
The affected structures will soon be the target of rehabilitation interventions, the mayor of Arouca, Margarida Belém, told “Jornal de Notícias”. “We are already receiving budgets”, declared the mayor. It should be noted that the fire that between the 17th and 19th of September consumed almost 20% of the municipality of Arouca caused at least 5.3 million euros in losses and, of these, 350,000 refer to the Passadiços do Paiva alone, revealed the municipality.
Distinguished six consecutive years at the World Travel Awards as the “Best Adventure Tourism Attraction in the World”, the Paiva Walkways had already been partially destroyed by fires in 2015 and 2016.
PAULO NOVAIS
