Dear participants,
Good afternoon. A new module has been opened this morning, which we hope will be of interest to you and will encourage you to take a more active part in the forums, as there are several hundred students enrolled.
Those of you who have known the Sierra since the end of the last century (that is, you’re already getting on in years like me…) will have noticed how it has changed significantly, especially in its higher areas. I remember how, in the early 1990s, I took a photograph (a slide) with a powerful telephoto lens of the western slope of Mulhacén, alarmed by the scars that the paths towards La Caldera were rapidly carving out.
A great deal of time has passed since then, and those footpaths have given way to “tracks” everywhere. From Hoya de la Mora in the direction of Veleta, you will have noticed in the first stretch how the Park authorities have marked on the ground where one should ascend, since there are several trails and the aim is for there to be only one. It has also been common knowledge for some years now that access to El Camarate is restricted in autumn. Not to mention the shuttle services to the Posiciones del Veleta and to the Altos del Chorrillo.
Through this thread we invite you to give us your opinion about this tourism (massive or otherwise) to the summits, a type of nature-oriented tourism that has become especially evident after COVID. Do we have the right, in the exercise of our freedom, to access without restrictions public spaces such as this National and Natural Park (the Sierra Nevada Protected Area)? Consider, for example, that the ski resort and its surroundings (within the Natural Park) do not restrict pedestrian access, although there are parking limitations. In northern Spain, however, there are specific places with a maximum number of visitors per day (we are speaking about protected areas).
While we look forward to your opinions and experiences, we illustrate this thread with an image by our esteemed colleague and tutor Pablo López Chaves, taken in a very popular spot (not lacking in beauty and natural value) with a characteristic summit in the background (yes, from a photographic point of view Pablo should be sitting the other way round, but…).
