First stage of trail from Artà to Lluc opened

The Tramuntana and Llevant areas of Majorca will be linked by a trail which will go from Artà to Lluc. The trail will be 80 kilometres long and can be covered on foot in 21 hours. The route takes in a variety of landscapes from steep mountains, past the Betlem heritage, and along the coast at Son Serra de Marina, going through the Albarca and Es Verger estates to the old Lluc road. One stretch of this trail was officially opened yesterday. It takes in the road which links Betlem with the hermitage, and the first group to walk along it was headed by tourism chief Celestí Alomar. He was accompanied by environment minister Margalida Rosselló, Bernat Aguiló, head of the Council of Majorca's promotion department, several director generals and the Mayor of Artà, Montserrat Santandreu. The trail has been divided into seven stages and along the route, technical teams, the forestry brigade and dry stone wallers have cleaned it up, rebuilt walls and recovered ethnolgical elements of interest. The route has been clearly marked with panels indicating the number of kilometres covered, the estimated time needed and a description of the places of interest. The trail has been made possible thanks to an agreement between the Council of Majorca and the Balearic tourism ministry, and it has cost 145'000 euros. This is part of the tourism ministry's new policy to attract a different type of tourist, one who does not seek sun and sand. It is also part of the effort to attract out of season visitors, as it is too hot to go hill walking in the summer. There are also plans for a trail from Andraitx to Pollensa, with the possibility of staying at mountain refuges along the way. At the moment, the only refuge which is fully operational is Tossals, which usually has a waiting list, particularly at weekends. La Trapa in Andratx, once the site of a Trappist monastery, will be included in this route and the refuge there is being restored.