Popular Costa del Sol river walk remains closed two years after access was banned

The popular River Chíllar hiking route in Nerja on the eastern Costa del Sol has been closed for two years with no plans to reopen it in the short term. Nera town hall says that the resolution of August 2023 prohibiting access to hikers will remain in force for now and the Junta de Andalucía, which is responsible for the area, is still waiting for a private company to manage access to the site.

August 8 will mark the second anniversary of the municipal decree closing access to the middle and upper areas of the River Chíllar after years of overcrowding, accidents, fires and uncontrolled access to the beauty spot.

The Junta de Andalucía has been looking for bids from private companies to take over control of the access and general management of the site. However, it rejected all three bids submitted in March by different companies.

The Junta de Andalucía has said that it is now waiting for the same companies or others interested to resubmit or submit bids. Nerja's environment councillor, Javier Rodríguez , told SUR that they were going to continue trying to promote this regulation of access to the river Chíllar, but warned that, until it is completed, the municipal decree approved in August 2023 is still in force "because of the danger of fires and overcrowding which was out of control, with rescues every week and an obvious risk to people," he said.

Rodríguez added that the town hall is "in talks" with the companies to resubmit their bids while admitting that since the ban was approved, the flow of visitors "has dropped considerably". However, he pointed out that there are still those who access the route even though Local Police and Civil Defence officers are patrolling the area which is particularly popular in summer. He warned that if anyone is caught, they will be subject to a fine as stipulated in the municipal decree of August 2023. However, he has not been able to say how many fines have been issued since then.

Head of Hermanos Campano de Ardales, Manuel Campano, one of the companies that submitted a bid in March, confirmed to SUR they are considering re-applying for the contract. The other companies to submit bids in March were Viajes Verano Azul and Sando.

Local environmental lobby group Gabinete de Estudios de la Naturaleza (GENA)-Ecologistas en Acción has called for a permanent ban on entry due to the uniqueness of the protected area, accusing the authorities of "commercialising" it.