November 20, 2023.- The Public Sector Contracting Platform has published the award of the contract of works necessary for the execution of the project of conditioning and signage of the Great Highlands Trail in the Highlands region of Soria: “The Footprint of Transhumance.” This action is financed within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan of the Government of Spain and within the Destination Tourism Sustainability Plan.
The Assembly of Councillors of the Highlands Community of Soria has awarded this contract to Talher S.A for a total of 177,148 euros, and a term of execution of 12 months once the contract has been signed.
It is a route that unites all the current and historical villages of the Highlands Region through a circular route of 252 km, complemented by 14 km in return branches. The Highlands region has an area of 69,489 hectares and its territory is divided into 16 municipal terms.
Great Highland Trail
One of the main attractions that this Highlands Region possesses is its variety of landscapes and breadth of horizons, as well as the possibilities for the realization of routes in nature on foot, by bicycle, on horseback or other non-motorized means of transport, given the existence of historical communication routes, such as the Royal Soriana East Canyon and the adjacent livestock roads (cordeles, veredas), as well as the network of roads between the villages, including horseshoe and traditional roads.
Therefore, within the Destination Tourism Sustainability Plan, the Commonwealth considered it necessary to carry out a study for the tourist use of the different current and potential non-motorized routes existing in its territory, which, starting from these traditional communication routes, would design a route that unites all the peoples with each other.
In summary, the action defined in this document is aimed at the creation of a powerful network of trails (in circular format) whose fundamental use will be the tourist that contributes to the attraction activities around it, making possible the diversification of the economy of the territory and promoting its local development. In addition to the tourist character of this initiative, there is no doubt that the creation of a circular Great Path is configured as a cohesive element of territory and, at the same time, is a way to recover, preserve and value the aforementioned traditional means of communication.
The expected result of the project, once executed, will consist of a clean, conditioned and perfectly signposted tour to be able to travel in both directions. A great trail that runs through all the towns of the Highlands in a circular way and that has been called the GREAT HIGHLAND TRAIL. It will have several round-trip branches that complement the circular part and that will serve as a connection with the most remote villages and depopulated as well as with other provinces and also as access to points of interest that have been considered relevant.
The route that has been validated is formed from a circular ring that unites all the villages of the Highlands, to give strength to the idea of identity of the Region, in which all the municipalities are united by a great path. This design fits very well within the Regional Strategy to make tourism an engine of sustainable development of the territory, since it contributes to consolidate the territorial identity according to its tourist possibilities.
The route has been divided into 15 stages, with an average of 17 km/stage and with the shortest stage of 11 km and the longest stage of 25 km. In most of the start and end points of the stage it coincides with population entities that offer some type of service.