This month the MACMA team has contacted the Ruta dels Riuraus Association to promote their project, and they will be in charge of telling you about their proposal. 

The Association is made up of a group of Town Councils from the Marina Alta and others from outside, in order to highlight the heritage generated around the region, whether through landscapes, museums, rivers, etc. 

The towns in our region integrated into the Route are: Benissa, Dénia, El Verger, El Poble nou de Benitatxell, Gata de Gorgos, Jesús Pobre, La Rectoria, La Xara, Llíber, Ondara, Orba, Parcent, Pedreguer, Teulada Moraira, Xàbia and Xaló. 

You can also consult the complete information at the following link: 

[www.rutadelsriuraus.com] 

PRESENTATION OF THE RIURAUS ROUTE OF LA MARINA ALTA (Jesús Pobre, May 9, 2014)

Ladies and gentlemen, dignified authorities, friends of the Riuraus Vius association, neighbors and representatives of the towns of Benissa, El Poble Nou de Benitatxell, Gata, Jesús Pobre, la Xara, Llíber, Parcent, Ondara, Pedreguer, Teulada-Moraira, Xàbia and Xaló, happy and promising sunset on May 9, 2014.

Emotional first hour of the night's engravings when 12 towns in the Marina Alta region seal the alliance to protect one of the most significant elements of these lands, the riuraus, a unique contribution of the Valencian Country to the universal architecture that our region has had as its birthplace.

For people with romantic dreams who have been pursuing the safeguarding and recognition of the riuraus for more than 30 years as a great architectural imprint of regional history, the Route that we present and inaugurate today is an open path to recovering and revitalizing them, to ensure that they once again contribute to the well-being of our populations and beautify fields and mountains with their rows of arches as eyes that guard the integrity of the territory.

For almost two centuries, the riuraus were the nerve centers of the economy of the Marina Alta, generators of wealth, a space for productive transformation, where the fruit of the terraced vineyards ripened completely and the triangle that supported the life of our ancestors “grapes, escaldà, raisin” was closed.

Decades ago, when in summer the riurau opened its eyes, the August sun allied itself with the boiling liquid of the boiler to steal the last squirt of juice from the muscatel. The drought became a gigantic painter's palette where the scalded grapes changed the colors of their open skin every day, from golden green to intense ochre, to the old gold of the young raisin. Men and women agitated to the rhythm of the escaldà, and of the storm. The point of departure and return, of work and rest, of joy and worry, of solitude and company, of shade and sun, of encounter and shelter was the river.

The inconstancy of time, the fickleness of economies, social evolution, transform habits, customs, work, ways of living and relating, what was useful becomes useless, what was valuable falls into ruin, what was important is lost in disuse.

"Abandoned useless ruins", seemed to be the fate of our rivers just over ten years ago.

Luckily, when they were on the way to being doubly buried, converted into piles of stones and lost in oblivion, the people's conscience organized in entities, people, events, books, articles, magazines, documentaries, is rescuing them, putting them in value and disseminating their features and existence. The best examples are the recovery and public use of two large rivers: that of the Català d'Arnauda in Xàbia, and the one that welcomes us today in Jesús Pobre, that of the lord of Benissadevi, already considered as the cathedrals of the raisin.

The cultural heritage of a people must preserve its history, language, territory, intangible and material heritage, otherwise it becomes a people without essence or identity, with an indifferent culture and personality that leads it to disappear.

The need to preserve and enhance that essence and identity has led to the creation of the Marina Alta Riuraus Route. A project that has now become a reality that allows inhabitants, residents, visitors and tourists to get to know the region in depth, walk through fields and villages, relive part of history, delve into the rural culture engendered by our towns, and enter the unique world of raisins and riuraus. I invite you to take a short tour of it, to savor a taste that awakens our desire and stimulates our spirits to understand it and follow it completely.

Of the twelve towns that today make up the Route, there is no one starting point or ending point. The brochures that will serve as our guide do not indicate preferences, the order of visit is random, at the disposal of our taste, appetite or circumstances, and at the service of our own convenience and complacency. Just as there is no town more important than the others because each one jealously guards its particularities and all together they make up the being of the Marina Alta.

Nor is there a specific duration for each visit because, like all wonderful routes, we can shorten or lengthen the path, linger in admiration at a place or observe it quickly and write it down in our personal agenda of places to visit with absolute peace of mind.

Likewise, we will not say that we have completed the route with a single stay, because the images, smells, and colors that accompany us during the summer will be different in autumn, spring or winter. The Ruta dels Riuraus is sensitive to the seasons of the year. The white earth of the terraces staggered on the hills and the reds of the valleys, which are lucky enough to be cultivated, begin to turn green as the vineyards emerge in spring, in summer they are covered in pregnant green, in autumn, tired of gestation and childbirth, they shed their ochre-tinted leaves, and in winter they return to show their natural color under the twisted branches of the vineyards.

We can start, it is an idea that contributes, to entertain ourselves by guessing the name of the town that is visible in front or on one side or the other of the road along which we are traveling and observe the silhouette of the houses, the bell tower or the profile of the hill where it rises above the sea or the mountain range that stands out among them. Then, if we feel like it, we can approach, leave the car and walk through the streets, most of which are narrow and full of corners that hold pages of history. Stop in front of stately homes built in times of economic prosperity such as the period of the raisin and pay attention to the details of the facades or the urban styles that determine them.

A visit to the tourist offices and information points is necessary for the instructive references that they will give us. And in their case, it is mandatory to enter the house museums due to the variety of objects they preserve, because they are the materialization of history and allow us a quick journey into the lives of the ancestors who inhabited La Marina.

Following the guide's instructions, we must gather, motorized or on foot, to the numerous viewpoints that offer us a thousand and one perspectives and vantage points from which to contemplate the landscape and absorb it from the four cardinal points, west, east, north or south. Here the village or an old farmhouse, there the open fields and orchards in the horizontal plain of the Vall del Pop, the Pla de Xàbia, Pedreguer, Ondara, which sleep on the banks of the Gorgos or Girona. In the background, the old terraces anchored with dry stone borders and leaning vertically against the mountains and ranges that outline the Marina Alta: Bèrnia, Oltà, El Carrascar de Parcent, El Cavall verd, the Serra d'Aixa, El Puig de la Llorença, El Montgó, Segària..., the elevations of Els Molinets, La Sella, El Tossal Gros..., mountain ranges that still preserve some remnants of the old vineyards, are beginning to be cultivated again or are lost in the wastelands among the figures of native trees clinging to the land such as carob trees, holm oaks, olive trees, some fig trees, almond trees. With a careful look, we will verify the exploitation, speculation, abandonment, or use that has been made, is being made or could be made of the land.

It is advisable to follow the itineraries that appear in each guide, old roads and ancient paths, wineries that connected one village to another, local roads opened or widened during the raisin season so that carts could easily carry the freshly picked grapes to the stream, where they had to be dried. Short routes that bring us closer to the rural architecture of the Marina: cottages, farmhouses, wells, rafts, windmills, threshing floors, drying rooms, ovens... and of course the streams.

Although no one denies the option of deviating from the marked path to explore at our own pace country houses, anonymous streams recommended by ear, ruins that promise to hide secrets; giant trees or small forests that have survived the fires and that demand our attention from afar. It is also a joy to lose ourselves freely on the centuries-old paths of the Marina. And once you've tasted rebellion, return to the route so as not to give up on the wise recommendations of the experts.

The guide will tell us where some of the many streams are preserved in better or worse condition, whether they are public or private, whether they can be visited or we have to settle for comparing their stone eyes with our water eyes in the distance. In any case, we respect the property, because we also love the owners. That is why we will be pleasantly surprised to see that there are numerous streams that have been rehabilitated and adapted to housing or recreational functions in today's life, and also others that are still used for agricultural work, an activity that is being disrupted thanks to the decline of the real estate bubble and the abandonment of speculative construction.

If we can enter, it is advisable to follow the ritual itself to understand rural architecture. Observe the whole, the natural elements it preserves, the additions or restorations, the shapes, heights, measurements, symmetries or asymmetries, colors, aesthetics, whys... Approaching slowly, almost without making noise so as not to break the charm of the creatures that survive in the environment. And when we finally pierce our eyes and enter the simple bowels of a brook, feel the secular vibrations it keeps and relive the work that was done in it.

After these visits we are ready to understand the world of raisins, grape cultivation and the agricultural character of the Marina Alta.

Then, I recommend returning to the town and satisfying each of the senses, especially those awakened by gastronomy. We will also find specific information in our attentive guide on where to savor the good food of the area, whether fruits of the earth or fruits of the sea. Taste the wines that the current vineyards offer us, the muscatels, the mistela. Spend some money on buying products from local crops, manufactures or crafts... Because the Marina Alta has been fertile, productive and welcoming and we must ensure that it continues to be so. Finally, we have to plan to participate in the fairs, activities, cultural, recreational, festive or educational shows such as collaboration in the work of scalding, which some rivers recycled to the uses, customs and needs of people of the 21st century offer us.

The Ruta dels Riuraus passes through the historical, economic, territorial and cultural essence of the Marina Alta. It reinforces the regional identity, strengthens the Valencian personality of the populations that promote it and revives the love, care and respect for mother earth. It teaches us the goodness of the past, allows us to put many of them to use for the present and take advantage of them with a sustainable and lasting vision for the future. The romantic chimeras turned into reality are pragmatic, effective, respectful and beautifully useful.

Congratulations to all the people, entities and towns that have made this Route possible, which I am sure will soon be joined by more towns in the Marina Alta. Congratulations on a job well done and keep going.

Now, for the declaration of the Riurau as a Site of Cultural Interest.

Good night and happy Route.

Pepa Guardiola.
Montgó-Xàbia, May 2014.

PROPOSED ROUTES. A wide range to choose from.
On the association's website, you can find a lot of possible combinations and types of routes: Hikers, Cycle tourists, family or motorized... But we propose a taste of each category, as well as other points of interest such as highly recommended Museums integrated into the Riuraus route, as a starting point. After that, the combinations are almost infinite, we invite you to continue exploring them on your own, consulting all the information at the following link: https://www.rutadelsriuraus.es/ca/rutes/  

We start this day in Teulada , at the Bancal Roig Museum , from where we recommend that you stop by the Sant Vicent Ferrer Cooperative and do some tasting and shopping, then take the road and go down towards Moraira to discover the Mirador de la Vall de les Sorts .

But if we want to make our plan more family-friendly, we have a recommendation that you will love in Xaló , a walking option to discover the raisin dryers, the excursion begins in the town and passes right by the Tossalet Botanical Park , an incredible place to enjoy with the little ones in the house, since halfway there is a park with zip lines, among other swings, and different heritage elements with which to tell stories to the little ones through the QR codes that you will find there. 

Another very interesting family alternative can be found in Parcent , where you can have lunch in the town and do a family multi-adventure activity in the Vitalparcentre Park . 

You can also opt for a cycle tour proposed by the Riuraus Route Association, in Gata de Grogos, in Benissa or in Pedreguer, you have a choice: 

• Cycling route through the streams of Gata: Distance: 12.4Km | Total elevation gain: 120 mts | Difficulty: medium. Risau is how the streams are called in Gata. We propose a 12km itinerary of low difficulty where we can contemplate twenty streams, terraces of muscatel vineyards and other points of interest in the town.
• Cycling route through the rivers of Benissa: Distance: 8.3Km | Cumulative elevation gain: 80 mts | Difficulty: medium. Circular route of almost 9 kilometers and 80 meters of elevation gain, of low difficulty. It runs through eight rivers in the district, the viewpoint of Els Molins and the Historical Center, where you can visit the Abargues Museum House.
• Pedreguer stream route: Distance: 15 km | Total elevation gain: 144 m | Difficulty: Easy. On this route we see the Pedreguer stream, living examples of Valencian rural architecture from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, sober but, at the same time, of great artistic beauty and key pieces in the landscape and our culture. In Pedreguer, the different types of stream come together, and one very unique one: the porticoed houses. Reservation: 966456200.

And finally, if you are more into classic hiking, we also recommend two proposals to choose from, the first in Poble Nou de Benitatxell and the second in Segària: 

• Serp Route in Poble Nou de Benitatxell: Distance: 4.7Km | Total elevation gain: 189 m | Difficulty: low. From thecenter of the town you will reach the slopes of Puig de la Llorença by taking the Serp route. The traditional use of the path has been to facilitate travel on foot between various areas of the mountain. This route takes its name from the twisting shapes that characterize the ridges that arise at the foot of Puig de la Llorença, right from where the winding path that gave access to the terraces of crops, corrals and lime kilns leaves.
• Segària terraces route: Distance: 4.4 km | Total elevation gain: 318 m | Difficulty: easy. During this route, we will observe the work of man to gain land in the mountain for grape cultivation. Terraces that challenge the inclination of the mountain with the aim of increasing production, and thus, income.

*Important: The association reminds users that the points of interest they present, the rivulets, are private. They advise that they be observed from the path without invading private property. Thank you for your collaboration.

And if you still want more information about it, on our website “Descobrim la Marina Alta” in the What to visit section you will specifically find all the heritage elements and proposed routes to get to know all the towns within the Ruta dels Riuraus. Which shows that this experience is not enough for a month, it is enough for much more, so we hope that this is a starting point to discover the wonders that thanks to the muscatel of Alexandria have been drawn in our architectural heritage but also in the gastronomic, pasitagistic and even intangible.