A journey on the legendary Pista del Marroquí

Pista del Marroquí is the name of an abandoned cliff road located in Ourense, in the Galicia region of north-west Spain.

Pista del Marroquí

Set high in the Macizo Galaico-Leones mountain range, the road is 9.0 km (5.59 miles) long. It’s mostly paved, with some unpaved sections near its end. The road is very narrow, totally impassable for 2 cars at the same time. The drive is dangerous, with no maintenance and drops of hundreds of meters.

The road was built between 1927 and 1940 as a service road for the construction of a railway from Vigo (in the northern part of the country) to Madrid. It’s named after Augusto Marroquí, the engineer of the construction. 15.000 workers were involved in the construction of the railway and about 12.000 of them died. Due to this fact, the track gained the name of Camiño dos Mortos/Camino de los Muertos (Track of the death people).
The track runs parallel to the railway and was used to move workers, transport food and tools or carry wounded workers. It runs between 800 and 1000 meters above the sea level through impressive mountains. A landslide blocks the road so it’s not totally drivable.
Road suggested by: jorge manuel gómez sánchez
Pic: Manuel Besteiro Alonso