Alberche Greenway

The disturbing descent from the Santa Ana urbanization ends at the Vía Verde del Alberche, built on the old route of a railway that was intended to connect Aldea del Fresno and Pelayos de la Presa, but was never inaugurated. In this section the Alberche River is dammed by the Picadas dam and it is delicious to pedal through the canyon to a recreational area before exiting onto the M-501 highway.

The railway was planned in 1930 as a secondary branch of the main Madrid-Almorox line. The plan was to create a railway communication route between Aldea del Fresno and Arenas de San Pedro, passing through Pelayos de la Presa, San Martín de Valdeiglesias and the Tiétar valley. The works began very lively, bridges were built and remains of the track bed remain in several sections, but the arrival of the Civil War cut off the works and they were never resumed. Now, the sections built almost a century ago are a wonderful greenway in the Sierra Oeste.