La Senda del Poeta (The Path of the Poet), the walking tour that travels through the poetry and life of the poet Miguel Hernández is to return after a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic. The route runs from Orihuela, where he was born, to Alicante, where he is buried in one of the city’s cemeteries.
This year’s event, the 27th Path of the Poet, will be held on 24th, 25th and 26th March, the general director of the Institut Valencià de la Joventut, Jesús Martí, announced recently.
Jesús Martí celebrated that after two years without being able to walk the route, it is possible for hikers to once again cover the 68 kilometres that make up the path and enjoy this activity that offers “an educational leisure option for people of all ages and that combines culture, tourism, environment, historical memory and intergenerational coexistence”.
The 27th edition of the Path recognises and honours, for the first time, two supporters of the event: the Orihuela Cultural association, dedicated to recognising the life and work of the poet, and Francisco Esteve, one of the main promoters of the Path, since its creation in 1998.
Francisco Esteves is one of the promoters of this recognition tour, as well as the honorary president of the Association of Friends of Miguel Hernández. Martí explained that this year it has been decided to have two winners ‘because the virtual nature of the two previous editions made it impossible to recognise the work that different associations and people who have been working to keep this initiative alive as it deserved’.
La Senda will begin, as usual, in the municipality of Orihuela, where the poet was born, and where, in addition to delivering the mentions of hiker of the year, there will be a poetry recital by students from different public schools in the municipality. The tour will continue through the municipalities of Redován, Callosa de Segura, Cox, Granja de Rocamora, Albatera, San Isidro, Crevillent, Elche, El Rebolledo, and will end in the Alicante cemetery, in front of the tomb of Miguel Hernández.
Along the route there are recitals of the poet’s works, meals, musical performances and receptions for hikers, who will also receive free foot care and physiotherapy by the students of the Miguel Hernández de Elche University, as they pass through this municipality.