Stage 7: Manzanedo - Puente Arenas

If you continue along the route, you will approach the Bailera bridge, a construction that offers access to the power station bear the same name, which is some 600 m further on. Beside it, standing out amid the dense vegetation, are the ruins of one of the most important Gothic monasteries. This is the Santa María de Rioseco Monastery, an Asset of Cultural Interest.

The path then follows the right bank, continuing towards Remolino, leaving the village from which the monastery derives its name on the opposite bank before arriving at the Congosto power station and dam. It is at this point that the route, despite continuing parallel to the river, turns right and follows the course of the river before reaching the abandoned village of Remolino, which forms part of the El Hayadal estate. A little further on, after passing the Maviso farm, the path continues parallel to the river, turning south.

In the distance, on the left bank, walkers can glimpse the N-232 and Granja Hocina while, if they look north, they can make out Incinillas. The route then crosses the Los Hocinos gorge. It is a short but very pleasant walk along two section of suspension footbridges over the mighty Ebro. Here, if vertigo allows, it is a good idea to raise your eyes to the sky, where Egyptian vultures, golden eagles and griffon vultures keep watch.

Once you have passed this part, the route plunges into a dense, and beautiful forest of gall oaks, boxwoods and other riverside species. The rocky outcrops welcome and escort walkers to the Aire bridge and the ruined Las Ánimas hut. On the right bank, beside this compact stone building, there is a picnic area with tables, a fountain and a fire pit, where you can rest and, why not, enjoy the beautiful scenery around you. You will then ascend via N-232 and reach the other side, where you follow the first road on the right.

Shortly thereafter, the route heads towards Puente Arenas. At first, it lies by the Ebro, at the same level, although it later becomes steeper and more zigzagging, beginning to ascend to the La Labrada pass which, at about 625 m, is carved into the rock along the La Labrada hill. Travellers are in luck. You have reached the Valdivielso valley. The descent to Puente Arenas follows sections of the old Roman road that connected this town with the El Aire bridge, offering a magnificent spectacle of cultivated fields, villages with an enormous historical and artistic legacy and the mountain ranges that shelter them, Tesla and Mazorra.

You enter the village of Puente Arenas from the upper part, via a concrete lane that leads under the church of Santa María. Calle La Tranca runs beside the river; from there, the bridge can still be seen, and it marks the end of this stage and the beginning of the next. Puente Arenas extends around the only old bridge in this section of the Ebro. It refers to two villages: Puente, which is located beside this pass, was rebuilt in 1885, and Arenas, in whose historic quarter there are large, emblazoned stone houses, such as the palace of Bishop Pedro Fernández de Tomiño and La Yedra house, both dating to the 17th century. It is also recommendable to visit the parish church of Santa María, a Plateresque church with Romanesque and Gothic ruins.