The Murcian adventurer and Honorary President of the Geographical Society of the Region will offer this Thursday at the Mediterranean Foundation an audiovisual presentation on this 900-kilometer tourist route that he devised in 2003
‘El Camino de la Cruz de Caravaca’ is the title of the photographic conference that this Thursday, at 7:30 p.m., the Murcian adventurer Juan Francisco Cerezo will give at the Mediterranean Foundation (culture classroom in front of the arcades of the Murcia cathedral) , on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Geographical Society of the Region of Murcia, the entity chaired by María José Cárceles. Cerezo has been publishing since the 90s in specialized magazines on all the routes to Santiago, he is even the author of a guide to the Camino de la Plata and a regular lecturer in schools after more than 30 years of cycling adventures around the world.
In 2003, on the occasion of the celebration of the first Jubilee Year in Caravaca de la Cruz, he wondered why not create an itinerary that connects the Region of Murcia with the traditional French Way to Santiago, and that is how he developed a project on the Camino de la Vera Cruz de Caravaca, which it registered in 2007 and presented to three entities of the Murcia Region (Tourism Institute, Caravaca de la Cruz City Council and CAM Foundation) that finally developed it, with variations, without Cerezo being a participant of becoming.
“I feel completely ignored, although open to working positively, until I get fed up and say: ‘It’s over'”, this experienced traveler, recognized for his bicycle expeditions through jungles, deserts, and mountains, author of documentaries and productions, becomes unnerved. for television as ‘El mundo a pedales’ or ‘On the edge of the impossible’.
“What the pilgrim will discover by bike or on foot is an unusual geography”
The Camino de la Cruz de Caravaca, defends Cerezo, connects the Pyrenees with Caravaca de la Cruz and allows crossing Spain from north to south following old transhumance paths, river courses, greenways, historical routes and natural parks. A pilgrimage itinerary that he developed for his cycling or hiking enjoyment in order to discover “a varied, unusual and surprising geography.”
In the talk that he plans to give this Thursday, Cerezo will influence the potential of this tourist itinerary, which was even promoted by the Autonomous Community twice at the Madrid International Tourism Fair (Fitur) and was praised by the Xunta de Galicia . However, the interest of the regional administration waned. Cerezo affirms that they even offered him the payment of royalties from the Autonomous Community, although in the end it was not carried out.
Five communities
The itinerary that Cerezo drew up passes through 92 municipalities, from five different autonomies: Navarra, Aragon, the Valencian Community, Castilla-La Mancha and the Region of Murcia. “I am the father of this project, but I would not like to be the destroyer,” says Cerezo, who claims to be open to dialogue so that this route can be exploited with all legal guarantees. In total, 900 kilometers. “The logistical start is in Pamplona, because Puente la Reina is further south, and there the two roads converge: the French and the Cruz de Caravaca. I have done this itinerary in spring and autumn. By bike there are 11 or 12 stages, depending on the physical form. I did it in 11, with an average of 90 or 100 kilometers per day ». At the time a sign was made [por Natursport], although Cerezo believes that it is “improvable.”
«I have a registered guide with photos and 11 bike routes and I would like the Camino de la Cruz Foundation to support it»
In what condition is the road between Caravaca and Pamplona? «There are very long stages for a walker on foot, there is some mistake such as not going through Cieza because it goes from Calasparra to Jumilla and there is a long distance with only one hostel and closed … It is true that all that will change, as happened with the Camino de la Plata. I have a registered guide project with photos, with 11 stages for cyclists, and I would like the Camino de la Cruz Foundation, of which the Caravaca City Council is part, to support it, “says the creator of cycles such as’ The adventure of to travel’. «I have always made many proposals, and I would like you to count on me. The Camino de la Cruz is beautiful, and necessary for the Region of Murcia. It should be promoted as a first-rate tourist itinerary ».
The president of Murcia en Bici, Mariano Montesinos, will present Cerezo at the ceremony this Thursday at Fundación Mediterráneo.
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