Monday, December 15, 2025, 00:37
The name of the Wine and Fish Route has no tricks or cardboard. It connects Oion with Bermeo through 159 kilometers of varied landscapes and is called that because the muleteers passed along its paths with good broth, wheat, salt and vinegar and on their return they exchanged it for fresh or salted fish from the ports of Bizkaia. Since mules and carts stopped transporting supplies along their route, there have been sections that have fallen into oblivion. CM Peña Karria has proposed to make them known again and keep alive an Alava heritage that energizes rural areas and favors the protection of nature.
“A project for us,” summarizes president Loli Muñoz Pérez, promoter of the plan that they hope to develop in 2026 but that has already had its first brushstrokes. This year the club began to rehabilitate the Senda del Pastoreo, a circular route between the mountains that flank the Llanada and includes passes through Gipuzkoa, Bizkaia, Burgos and Navarra. Its route extends through several mountain pastures with a livestock tradition, but in some areas it was very difficult to follow the path.
“There were signs broken, moved or no longer existing,” describes the precursor. The outings of the group and its perseverance facilitated the renewal of the marks by the trails committee and the institutions. The Departments of Culture and Sports of different administrations ended up subsidizing bus trips so that the group could regenerate the route with their steps, retracing the path by walking, as Machado wrote.
Their footprints left a trace and they have had someone follow them. A group of almost 50 people from the VALE group from León travels one weekend of each month to Vitoria to carry out two stages and little by little complete the 19 in total. Its objective is to finish the almost 500 kilometers through mountains that bring together many megalithic remains (dolmens or menhirs), pastures in which to appreciate the pastoral culture and abundant churches and sanctuaries.
In 2026 they hope to meet several times with the Peña Karria, which has proposed an extensive schedule of departures that will begin on January 11. Your first step will be to finish the Alava part of the Ignatian Way that goes from the Basilica of Loyola in Azpeitia to Manresa, and runs about 70 kilometers to the east of the territory. On March 1 they will begin the start of the Wine and Fish Route, the GR-38, the union of the fertile lands of the Ebro to the Biscayan ports. La Peña Karria will begin in the second stage, which starts in Laguardia, and will leave the beginning for the end. There is an explanation. On September 13, after traveling the 20 kilometers between Oion and the town of Rioja Alavesa, the group will move to Kripan to enjoy the Harvest Fair. The reward for effort.
La Peña, with 170 members compared to other clubs with more than 2,000, opens its arms to all those who want to participate in its project. The only requirement to sign up on their website is to be a mountain federation.
