A hundred years ago or so, most Spanish were peasants, treated like shit by landlords and priests. They worked their asses off on the land and they weren’t the least bit interested in spending their leisure time walking in the mountains. In Madrid there were no quick and easy way for people to get to the mountains.
And so it fell to a German guy by the name of Schmid to embrace the mountains of Madrid and promote walking, such that the first and most famous route through the mountains, from puerto de navecerrada is named after him.
The route is a long a dust track which winds it’s way along the side of the forested mountains, with various stony interludes.
The mountains used to be used for skiing, but with global warming the facilities still in place around the mountains hark back to a time historic. Puerto de Navecerrada itself is a small skiing set up, falling into disrepair, the weeds and graffiti taking over. Several cafes seem to survive.
