This is how Granada's Sierra Nevada Elorrieta refuge looks after renovation

The Elorrieta refuge in Granada province's Sierra Nevada has been renovated thanks to a project carried out by the Andalusian regional government and the Sierra Nevada natural park authority, which began in August and finished a few days ago. Materials, tools and rubble had to be transported by helicopter to and from an altitude of 3,187 metres.

Mountaineers have already started to use it and have shared their experience on social media. Jorge Rodríguez Moreno has published on his YouTube channel a spectacular video recorded at the end of November, after the first snowfall of autumn, where he shows the facilities and the impressive views of the surrounding peaks at dusk.

"It's super nice", summarises the mountaineer, before having dinner on the wooden table set up as part of the work and putting down his mattress and sleeping bag on one of the bunk beds.

In a conversation with newspaper IDEAL, Rodríguez expressed his fear that the reform could become "a lure" and attract people who do not have the experience or adequate material, such as mountain shoes, warm clothing, crampons and ice axes, who are not prepared to make this crossing in an area of steep slopes, ice and often lashed by intense blizzards.

"Access to the refuge in winter conditions is very dangerous and only recommended for experienced mountaineers. A colleague of mine lost his life in this area two years ago. It is one of the black spots for accidents in Sierra Nevada: when there is a lot of snow there is a risk of avalanche and when there is not, there is a lot of ice," he warns. The Elorrieta refuge can be reached from the Laguna de las Yeguas, a 2.5-kilometre walk with a 300-metre positive vertical drop.

He also highlights that, although the refuge is always open to spend the night in case of need and the facilities are "great", it is not a hotel. "It's a freezer" stresses Jorge, who recorded a temperature of one degree below zero inside the Elorrieta during the night he spent there.

Francisco Muñoz, director of the Sierra Nevada National Park and responsible for the work, has echoed Rodríguez's warning on numerous occasions: the Elorrieta is not a sheltered refuge and will continue to have the same use as before, to protect mountaineers who need it from extreme weather conditions. "We must remember that this place is dangerous in winter conditions and only suitable for experienced mountaineers," he warns.

Until this work was undertaken, which had a budget of 150,000 euros and was awarded to the company Tragsa, the shelter was abandoned, full of rubbish and rubble and with broken windows, the result of several decades of neglect and vandalism.