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1998 Spanish Best Practices selected by the International Jury > http://habitat.aq.upm.es/bpes/onu98/bp459.en.html

Via Verde de la Sierra (Greenway), Cádiz (Spain)


Para consultar la versión en castellano de este documento, pulse aquí.

Reference Date: 26-07-98

Experience selected in the 1998 Dubai Award for Best Practice, and catalogued as GOOD. ( Best Practices Database.)
País/Country: Spain

United Nations Region: Europe
Ecological region: mountain
Activity: village
Partnerships: Local authority. Central government. Private institution.

Themes = Economic Development: training; environmental Management; resource management.

Main contact:
Diputación Provincial de Cádiz (Local government)
José Antonio Iglesias Brantuas
C/ Ahumada, n. 6, 1. planta
11004 Cádiz
Spain
Tlf: 95 622 99 14
Fax: 95 622 99 21
E-mail: UPE@CADIZ.ORG

Partner:
Ministry of the Environment (Central governement)
José Luis Obeso
C/ San Juan de la Cruz s/n
Madrid 28071
Spain
Tel: +34 91 597 57 85
Fax: +34 91 597 58 16
Partner One Support Type: Financial Support

Partner:
Department of Tourism and Sport (Local authority)
Joaquín Aurioles Martín
Avda. República Argentina, 23 5. planta
Sevilla 41011
Spain
Tel: +34 954 55 84 11
Fax: +34 954 55 52 92
Partner Two Support Type: Financial Support

Partner:
Foundation of Spanish Railways (Private institution)
Joaquin Jiménez
C/ Santa Isabel 44
Madrid 28012
Spain
Tel: +34 91 527 96 05
Fax: +34 91 528 09 86
E-mail: FUEPU02@FFE.EF
http://WWW.FFE.ES

Nominating Organization:
Marta García Nart
Comité Nacional Español
Paseo de la Castellana, 67
28071 Madrid
Spain
Tlf: +34-91 597 75 72
Fax: +34-91 597 86 04
E-mail: mgnart@mfom.es


S U M M A R Y

The Greenway "Vía Verde de la Sierra" represents an imaginative and novel tourist offer that intends the recovery of the railway Jerez -Almargen, devised to final of the past century and that never has been in operation. In 1887, under the patronages of the County Council of Cádiz were given the first steps for the creation of an economic railway that energizeed the mountain region. The fall of the Cousin dictatorship of Primo de Rivera (1929) and the beginning of the civil war (1936) determined the interruption of the works, no arriving ever to be tended the rails, but the rest of the civil work was ended almost thoroughly. The need of limiting and weighting the slopes demanded the development of important works of engineering and infrastructure. Tunnels, viaducts, containment walls, terraces and trenches, the majority in good state, shape the course, and numerous stations in a lamentable abandonment state were claiming a new usefulness.

The Greenway "Vía Verde de la Sierra" has a tour SSW -E of 67 Kms. that travel through border municipalities of the provinces of Cádiz and Sevilla, that provides it an important character interprovincial. They are eight the involved municipalities, Arcos de la Frontera, Bornos, Villamartín, Puerto Serrano and Olvera, located to the North of the Province of Cádiz, and Coripe, Montellano and El Coronil, to the south of the Sevilla.

The Greenway "Vía Verde de la Sierra" is framed within "Tejido Verde" Program, included in the Directing Infrastructures Plan of the MOPTMA, current Ministry of Environment, destined to the the environmental recovery of linear infrastructures in disuse. This program is proposed the recovery and conditioning of the linear infrastructures, with its annex equipment, generally related to transportation, and susceptible of be integrated within urban and
environmental patrimony by its special interest as landscapes, historical cultural or sports.

The project was begun in October of 1993, and it has been coordinated by the Excma. Diputación Provincial de Cßdiz (County Council of Cádiz), using the Promotion and Development Unit. In close collaboration with the Junta de Andalucía (Regional Government), Spanish Railways Foundation, the Ecologist-Pacifist Federation of Cádiz, Local Entities, associations and other foundations without profit spirit, it has been designed a Green Route model that answers to the outlined objectives and embossment the artistic historical and environmental particularities of this singular traced, considerate one of the most interesting of Spain. At the same time, the Work Ministry, by means of the National Employment Institute and its Workshop Programand "Escuelas Taller y Casas de Oficios" has carried out an integral project for the recovery and rehabilitation of the ancient stations to endow to
the route of the necessary services.

The green route is located in a region with strong dependency of the agrarian sector, with an each time strongest presence of the terciary sector and a growing obsolescence in the population had to
the combined effect of the demographic general evolution toward the reduction of the birthrate and greater longevity and, by other, the rural exodus centered in the lowest strata of the demographic pyramid.
The execution and set up of the project has brought itself a dynamic effect in the economy of the zone permitting to balance the revenues of the inhabitants thus as impelling economic activities,
promoting the existing and attracting new initiatives. The set in operation and development of all the offers that carry the accomplishment of the Green Route, its maintenance and improvement are generating economic flows, fundamentally in the services sector, capable of sponsoring the projection and the economic recovery of the zone. The application of the Workshop Program (Escuelas Taller y Casas de Oficios) has permitted to give employment and training to minor youths of 25 years, contributing
to the stabilization of the population in the zone.

The Green Route has been an example of collaboration between different local administrations, provincial, regional and national, where they have been united efforts and wills with the aim of promoting the economic development and the employment in a rural zone, traditionally isolated because of its geographical situation, by means of the set in value of idle resources.

This initiative is the first experience that develops the philosophy of this program, whose principal objectives are, between other, the maintenance of the public dominance of the infrastructures, the development of alternative economic activities to the agriculture and the creation of a new tourist offer model integrated with the environment, use and observe the ethnological diversity, the endogenous resources and the natural wealth of the zone.




Key Dates

October, 1993: start of the project, previous studies.
March, 1994: meetings with parteners.
February, 1995: execution of the works over the
route.
April, 1995-1997: Workshop Training Program. E.T. and C.O.
December, 1997: end of the project.



N A R R A T I V E


1. Situation before of the performance

In 1982 the County Council sponsored the Integral Study of the Serranía Gaditana. In it, theirs authors noted the possibility of using the road infrastructure existing for the tourist development of the zone. With posteriority, in September of 1993, the Promotion and Development Module of the Excma. Diputación Provincial de
Cßdiz elaborated a previous study relative to the two raiway lines in disuse of the province, Jerez-Almargen and Rota-Sanlúcar, remaining the first one as the most indicated for a possible performance destined to rural tourism due to its good conservation state.

The celebration of the Seminar on Greenways celebrated in Gij.n "Lives the Route", in August of 1993, organized by the Spanish Railways Foundation, supposed the definitive impulse for the beginning of the coordination projects by part of the Diputación de Cßdiz. This local institution, especially devoted and sensitized
with the socioeconomic problems of the minor municipalities, with less than 20.000 inhabitants, decided to bet on this initiative as novel formulation of generating employment and alternative revenue in the zone.

One of the first efforts carried to end by part of the County Council as coordinator entity of the project was put on contact by first time to the participating entities, with the aim of collecting initiatives and suggestions that they could be applicable to the Greenway "Vía Verde de la Sierra". In this sense, were carried to end work and publication meetings in the annex municipalities to the route, gathering associations and representative movements of neighbourhood, entrepreneurial and local that previously hardly they had maintained contacts neither worked for a common end.

The line has a total of 120 Kms. and crosses municipalities of the Provinces of Cßdiz and Sevilla. In the 32 Kms. rehabilitated never were put the rails, but the rest of the buildings work was ended almost thoroughly. All that built was in a lamentable abandonment state, claiming a new usefulness. The diversity of the geographical spaces and the interest of the artistic historical patrimony heighten the value of the route. Three Protected Natural Spaces, the Natural Parajes of the "Colas de los Embalses de Arcos y Bornos", and the Natural Reservation of the "Peñón de Zaframagón" (one of the most important volture reserves of Europe), are crossed by the greenway.

In its ascent are used the river valleys of the rivers Guadalete and Guadalporcún, being traveled a wide variety of landscapes, from the agricultural, until the mountains of great natural value, happening by landscapes with a labeled predominance of the water. Such environment, favored by the excellence of its natural conditions, it has been always auspicious to the human accessions establishment. Verifies it the wealth and variety of archaeologic remains, that start from the Prehistory, happening by fenicios,
.beros and Roman, until the medievo with the indefeasible Arabic casttles presence, erected on high hills. The importance of this panorama is seen reinforced by the statement of Artistic Historical Sets to three of the towns anexed to the route: Arcos de la Frontera, Bornos and Olvera.

The economic situation of the zone is characterized by its strong dependency of the agrarian sector, with an each time strongest
presence of the terciary sector and a progressive obsolescence of the population due to a combined effect of the demographic general evolution toward the reduction of the birthrate and greater
longevity and, by other, the rural exodus centered in the lowest strata of the demographic pyramid.
According to data of the National Employment Institute, the unemployed people between 20 and 29 years old, represent a 43% of the total, from this, the 31,3% in the terciary sector, 24,3% in
the construction and 24,5% without previous employment, we attended an evident reality: the inactive people are largely youths that yet they have not obtained theirs first job or they have accomplished tasks that were requiring few specialization, over all in the construction and in the terciary sector.

With respect at their academic level, a 24% have studied elemental studies while that a 67% certifies a primary teaching. These data evidence an alarming situation that requires a rapid solution, this must proceed of a professional training adapted to the trends of the work market furthermore of offering perspectives of occupational insert.

2. Preparing the information and clarifying the priorities

With the end of elaborating an integrated proposal that answered to the needs of the region, were carried to end the relevant socioeconomic and territorial analysis, thus as the designs of
existing Green Process in other countries, that permitted to design a model of Greenway available and agreed to this zone. Of this way, were established a series of priorities:


3. Objectives formulation, strategies and resources mobilization

The Greenway Project "Vía Verde de la Sierra", intends to obtain a series of social objectives, bound to the development of new forms of ecological and active tourism, impelling the leisure activities and recreate to the free air, and of deepening in the conservation of the environmental patrimony, cultural and industrial, and of the education in the nature, promoting thus the rural development.

These objectives permit the reinforced of the welfare offer for our citizen and the increase in economic and social development opportunities for needy rural areas, permitting the conservation and improvement of our patrimony. However, for the attainment of these objectives not enough with accomplishing this principles statement, but its necessary to maintain a series of global concepts that are included in the project:


The accomplished performances and its financing are:

4. Process

Following phases can be emphasized:


About the problems emerged in the development of the performance the principals are referred to the maintenance and vigilance due to its geographical location and its great extension. Technical problems in the definition of the design of the route and in its superficial treatment appeared at the begining of the project because there were two different ways to understand the Greenway; the first one pretended to establish a very confortable greenway, prefering the use of asphaltic treatment, in front of the second one, which prefered to avoid agresive actuations. This problem was resolved using a intermediate solution between them, not agressive at all, permiting the Greenway use by all kind of people, including handicapped, children and seniors.


5. Reached results

The outlined objectives have been reached, already that it has been achieved to valorize the idle resources in an economically depressed area.

The indicators that they can evaluate us the kindness of the project can be:


As already it has been outlined previously this project was the first at national level and acted as a pilot action for the subsequent development of the national program "Tejido Verde", serving of example to define the performances to accomplish to set up a Greenway, because of its character interprovincial have been had to unite efforts and political wills in organizations and
entities of very various nature, that by its competence and geographical location did not had practically relationships of collaboration in common actions.

6. Sustainability

The project has had as principal objective the establishment of an economic development shaft intercomarcal based on the respectful utilization of the environmental resources that offers the zone. The Greenway route is configured as a great park periurbano endowed of environmental wealth, various landscapes and protected areas, whose conservation and maintenance results indispensable for the continuity of the project.

In this sense, the competent public administrations have accomplished an important labour of reforestation with autochthonous species and conditioning of interest zones, contributing to the conservation of the resources.
The Greenway "Vía Verde de la Sierra" is constituted as a shaft vertebrador for the economic development of a traditionally depressed region, in this sense, the accomplished public investments, should be understood that have a social end, pursuing the synergies establishment in the affected populations. The increase of the tourist activity will permit the summit of the
region and this is it that permits to justify the accomplished public investment. Furthermore, the administrative grants for the development of the different created services will permit the
maintenance of the own Route reaching the self-sufficiency.

7. Learned lessons

To be tried to a pioneer project and novel, they were not existing referring of others in Spain. Some directors and existing regulations for the itineraries establishment in Natural Parks have been taken.

8. Transfer

This project is the model that have followed the rest of the Greenways by existing or that are in project in Spain, because this was the start to develope the National Plan of Greenways.

This model of infrastructures recovery linear in disuse permits the conservation of ecosistemas and the green zones amplification for its utilization by a population each time most prosecuting of places of scattering would be of the cities.

This sort of project is easily transferible to any other country of the world, and is not only possible using old railways line, but its feasible to set up a Greenway over paths, lanes, old roads,
cattle tracks,etc. The most interesting thing of the proyect is not the phisical hardware, but the methodology followed, which has permited joining wishes of different Public Administrations,
Associations, and Foundations, in order to get a common objetive.


Referencias


Este documento se ha editado a partir de una versión inglesa.
Revisado por Gloria Gómez Muñoz.

1998 Spanish Best Practices selected by the International Jury > http://habitat.aq.upm.es/bpes/onu98/bp459.en.html
 
Ciudades para un Futuro más Sostenible
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