##The ‘Asociación Cultural El Camino del Santo Grial’ has started to mark the route of the path in Ciutat Vella (Valencia) through a very simple signposting…accompanied by happy helpers. It has been 20 years since civil society began to work to mark this route and, after two decades in silence, thanks to the sponsorship of the Department of Entrepreneurship and Economic Innovation of the City Council of Valencia, the road has begun to be signposted.

Dr. Ana Mafé García has been explaining to the shopkeepers of Torres de Serrano area, that the oldest route of the road in Valencia corresponds to Ciutat Vella of Valencia and to this street in particular. The Torres de Serranos take their name precisely from the fact that they face the mountains of Teruel. Towers that in the 15th century gave access to the Kingdom of Aragon.

The influx of pilgrims that Valencia may have depends largely on the investments that the Administration wishes to make. In this sense, the Way of St. James, which began to be worked on in the 70s thanks to the efforts of the Minister of Tourism Fraga Iribarne, did not have its Xacobean Plan until well into the 90s aka ‘El Camino de Santiago.’ The Asociación Cultural El Camino del Santo Grial has presented this year the Integral Strategic Plan of the Way of the Holy Grail so that more than nine municipalities of the Comunitat Valenciana can apply for European Next Generation funds and have sufficient funding to be able to signpost, build hostels, etc.

This Plan has also been presented in Aragon in different municipalities to facilitate the receipt of economic recovery funds. In this way, the territory can be structured from the Pyrenees to the Mediterranean.

The Way of the Holy Grail, the Route of Knowledge, the Way of Peace is a 600-kilometre route from Somport, north of the Pyrenees in Huesca, to the city of Valencia, passing through Zaragoza, Teruel and the province of Castellón.

This route began in the last century with a great pilgrimage undertaken by the Archbishopric of Valencia to celebrate the 17th Centenary of the arrival of the Holy Chalice in Hispania. This pilgrimage had to be delayed until the summer of 1959.

It is destined to become one of the great European Cultural Itineraries of the 21st century. To this end, the entire route must be signposted in an approved manner so that the European Union can approve it as a European Cultural Itinerary.

But, as happened with the Way of St. James, the Way of the Holy Grail, the Route of Knowledge, the Way of Peace is being signposted by civil society. With a lot of love, respect and care for the environment.

The event was accompanied by the senator for Valencia Mr. Fernando De Rosa, Mr. Carles Recio founder of the path and Mr. Jesús Gimeno Peris, secretary of the Association and Councillor of Massamagrell.

“It is very important to carry out this type of action (signposting the route) while waiting for a municipality to obtain a sufficient budget to commission an expert signposting company to approve the GR”, says Dr. Mafé.

The work of placing the different plaques and approved signs along the entire route is a task that must be carried out by experts. Especially if this signposting is to be used to apply for the title of European Cultural Itinerary so that Valencia can be reached on foot from anywhere in Europe.

While funding is coming in, they will continue to promote handmade signage based on socarrats. So that, in the future, they can coexist with the approved ones and serve to give life to the route.

We remind you that the Cultural Association The Way of the Holy Grail has been offering a Pilgrimage Credential since 2004 and in 2017 presented a proposal at FITUR that has been reworked for this second Jubilee year.

Those interested in purchasing these pilgrimage credentials can do so in the Botiga de la Seu, just in front of the Cathedral of Valencia and also in C/ Torres de Serrano. The donation is 3€ and for the moment it will help to support the shops that are suffering so much from this pandemic.

The dancer Eros Recio was invited to participate in the signposting of the Camino del Camino del Santo Graal because Eros was the first child pilgrim to follow this path with his father, Carlos Recio.

Any initiative carried out by the Cultural Association The Way of the Holy Grail is always agreed with the maximum of public officials. Les Corts Valencianes urged in October 2019 to signpost the path and during this Jubilee year…and it was approved by the plenary of the Valencia City Council to signpost the city.

Report by ’24/7 Valencia’ team