Innovations in the world of transportation, including the democratization of flight prices, and the frenetic pace that the globalized world is imposing on the new society of immediacy, has made some of the trips we make seem more like a real gymkhana – than the one we end up having a compendium of stamps and photos that can prove that we have been in certain places – than a vital experience with which we try to immerse ourselves in different landscapes and cultures.
For many, those journeys on foot are left behind in which you could savor each step, each kilometer, each person that we found on the route, each beach, each dawn in the open... That calm walk that, far from making us miss things, brought us closer, with each step, to the essence of the place where we were traveling.
The Camí de Cavalls, also by bike.
The Camí de Cavalls, in Minorca, It is a wonderful option to re-experience those trips of yesteryear. In its 185 kilometers of route, we will be able to circumnavigate the island while we explore virgin coves, dramatic cliffs, wetlands, valleys, Mediterranean groves, caves and charming towns and cities of the Menorcan coast.
An ideal opportunity to practice slow travel for a land that well deserves it.
Camí de Cavalls, the essential natural route in Menorca.
A MILITARY USE TRAIL
However, slow travel was not exactly what the creators of the Camí de Cavalls, If not the opposite.
It is difficult to know the exact moment in which it began to be used, but historical sources agree that It must have been at the beginning of the 14th century. At that time, Menorca was far from being the holiday paradise that it represents today. Rather, It was a dangerous land, especially its coastal area, gluttonous prey for the many pirate ships that prowled it.
Therefore, the authorities of the time ordered to raise a network of towers, watchtowers and other fortifications that could protect the coastline of the continuous attacks from the sea. The Camí de Cavalls would serve as a connection so that messengers and troops could quickly access from one fortification to another.
Walkers doing the Camí de Cavalls, near the Martello Tower in Alcalfar.
In fact, there are writings from the 17th century that refer to it with the name of “Camí de Cavallers” (Way of Knights), by the frequent traffic of army horsemen.
That which was born with a military purpose, gradually became also a path used by civilians who wanted to go from one coastal town to another.
TIMES OF PEACE, DETERIORATION AND OPENING
And it is that, with the arrival of times of peace, the Menorcans - who they had always lived from the agriculture of their hinterlands, turning their backs on the coast– they looked out, each time more daring, to discover its beautiful coastline.
After seven centuries of history, very little maintenance and the partitioning of large sections of the road engulfed by private properties, the Camí de Cavalls reached a deplorable state.
Macarelleta beach.
This awakened, at the end of the 20th century, the consciences of the Menorcans and, finally, the authorities began an arduous task of rehabilitation and negotiation with the owners of the farms and lands along which the path ran, in order to achieve, already in 2010, that the Camí de Cavalls reopen its paths, perfectly marked and well conditioned, so that they could be traveled freely throughout the world. This is how the GR-223 was formed.
A PATH THAT CAN BE TRAVELED IN DIFFERENT WAYS
Since that 2010, they have been thousands of people who have decided to explore the coast of Menorca following the stone and historical land of the Camí de Cavalls.
As for the way to do it, you can choose between walking -the most common and popular-, pedal on a good mountain bike –The route is demanding, both physically and technically– or recall the origins of the path mounted on horseback.
Favàritx lighthouse.
Of course, the latter it is the most romantic way to do it and, although hardly anyone uses it to cover the 185 km of the route, yes, there are people who decide to enjoy some short stages like this.
Another point to decide is the speed. The Camí de Cavalls –or GR-223–, if done on foot, is officially divided into 20 very simple and short stages, ideal to enjoy calmly of the beautiful places through which it passes.
However, most people usually do it in 10-13 days, being possible to finish it in 7-8 days at a good pace. However, the truth is that this is one of those places on the planet that is not worth rushing through. If we do not have so many free days, it is better to choose some stages of the Camí de Cavalls and explore them thoroughly, leaving the rest for other occasions.
Cala Turqueta.
VARIED PARADISE ON EARTH
And it is that this historic path leads us to beaches with turquoise waters and white or golden sands, such as Cala Macarelleta or Cala En Turqueta; or to the wildest, most rustic and solitary beaches on the north coast, such as Cala Tortuga, Cala Pilar or Cala Cavalleria.
Also to the beautiful natural park of s'Albufera, a Biosphere Reserve of more than 1,600 hectares that has beautiful marshes and dunes in which hundreds of species of animal and plant species live, including countless waterfowl.
To the iconic Favàritx lighthouse –which we can access by deviating a little more than 1 km from the path–, with its 28 meters of height and its photogenic contrast of colors.
To dramatic cliffs that die in waters of such beauty that they make us weigh the madness of jumping to immerse ourselves in them without looking back. To Mediterranean forests where we shelter from the heat and regain some freshness.
Cala Pilar, Menorca.
And to the interesting cities of Mahon Y Ciutadella de Menorca, in which history reminds us that beauty can emerge from uncertain times in which peace and war followed one another as naturally as day and night.
But, after all, that is the essence of the Menorcan Camí de Cavalls: a path born out of wartime needs and that, now in the 21st century, it is the gateway to some natural landscapes where we can only feel like celebrating life and the power of nature.