The Minister Javier Hurtado cycled along The Romanic Bike Route, a newly created route that promotes Cultural Cycle Tourism in the Basque Country

The Minister for Tourism, Trade and Consumer Affairs, Javier Hurtado, has completed The Romanic Bike Route, which runs through the territory of Alava, accompanied by sports tourism agents, by bicycle. The route, designed by his Department under the concept of cultural cycle tourism, is a fundamental milestone in the Basque Country's cycle tourism strategy, representing one of the thematic routes recently launched to strengthen this modality in all the territories of the Basque Country.

Minister Hurtado highlighted the importance of the thematic routes as key driving forces to diversify and enrich the Basque Country's tourism offer. These routes are perfectly aligned with the fundamental objectives of cycle tourism in the region, which focus on attracting a tourist segment that is conscious and respectful of the surrounding nature.

Through these initiatives, the aim is to achieve a more equitable distribution of tourist flows throughout the territory, while promoting the extended length of tourist stays and the elimination of seasonal restrictions. This strategy of connecting the territory through routes allows for an effective redistribution of the wealth generated by tourist activity throughout the destination. In this sense, cycle tourism emerges as a product that ensures sustainability in its three fundamental aspects: environmental, socio-cultural and economic. Furthermore, this initiative contributes decisively to strengthening the reputation of the Basque Country as a diverse and sustainable tourist destination, recognised both nationally and internationally. It should be noted that this year it has been given an additional boost thanks to the outstanding promotional event of the Grand Depart of the Tour de France.

Minister Hurtado, during his exploration of the Romanic Bike Route, invited all cycling enthusiasts and visitors to take advantage of the unique opportunity to discover the cultural richness present in the Romanesque temples and the landscape of Alava. This route, covering a total length of 79.5 kilometres, focuses on the vast Romanesque heritage that characterises the territory of Alava. Participants can visit Romanesque temples, located in exceptional natural settings. The route not only allows you to explore the main features of these temples, which are representative of late Romanesque architecture, but also offers the possibility of exploring other cycling routes in the region, such as the Camino de Santiago, the Vía Verde del Vasco Navarro and the extensive route of La Llanada Alavesa.

Ultimately, the Minister emphasised that cycle tourism acts as a driving force for the development of various additional tourism offers, such as family, rural, gastronomic, ecotourism and sports tourism, among others.

 https://turismo.euskadi.eus/contenidos/recurso_tecnico/aa30_folletos/es_def/folletos/2023/RutaRomanicoAlaves.pdf