The best of the Camí de Cavalls. Stage 5.
| This stage has the attraction of passing by one of the most spectacular capes and lighthouses of Menorca. Although it does not pass by the lighthouse strictly speaking, it is worth leaving the road and going to see it. © El Playólogo/Maremecum
From Cala Tirant to Binimel-là
This stage is relatively simple because it can be done in two portions. The first half joins Cala Tirant with the cape of Cavallería and is the less difficult part. The second is perhaps the most beautiful, but also the one with the steepest slope. You will walk through inhospitable terrain of deserted hills and wild coves. You will find places of exceptional beauty and enjoy two of the best beaches on the island.
| This fifth stage of the Camí de Cavalls passes by the beach of Cala Tirant, which boasts one of the best dune fields in Menorca, stretching almost a kilometer inland. It is a beach little visited and little urbanized, at least the western shore, which also stands out for the torrent that pours its waters into it. © El Playólogo/Maremecum.
The route for everyone.
Length: 9.6 km.
Estimated time: 4 hours.
Unevenness: 300 m.
Difficulty: Medium.
My walking score: 7.
Cyclability: Medium. There are some relatively good stretches and some very bad ones, such as the wooden stairs that you have to overcome with the bike on your shoulder both in Cala Tirant and Cavalleria. There is also the inconvenience of riding on the sand of these two beaches.
My bike score: 6.
| Cala d'en Saler is one of the options you have to stop and have a swim, but it is the only one where you can stop for lunch in the shade under the roof. © El Playólogo/Maremecum
The best thing about it
The solitude of the landscape and the feeling of abandonment that you experience when walking between Cala Tirant and Cap de Cavalleria. The socarrells, those endemic bushes -short, spherical in shape and very thorny- which are in the majority here. Stop for a swim in the Cala d'en Saler, which has, curiously, a roof under which to eat or rest in the shade. When you reach the lighthouse road, jump off the road and go to the lighthouse viewpoint, because it is worth seeing. Another good idea is to go to the archaeological site of the Roman city of Sanicera, in the already photogenic Port de Sanitja. I say this because of the charm of the little boats moored in this millenary natural harbor. A few years ago there was a very active Ecomuseum (now a rural house known as Santa Teresa), which combined the excavations that were being carried out with guided tours and archaeological camps. If you want to end the stage here and not continue to Binimel-là I recommend you continue walking towards Port de Sanitja and wait until sunset. The views are exceptional. And even better if you go up the road to the lighthouse of Cap de Cavalleria and look over the edge of those vertical cliffs. You will be in the northernmost portion of land of the Balearic Islands. You can't get any further north than the Illa des Porros.
| La Illa des Porros is the northernmost place in the Balearic Islands. © El Playólogo/Maremecum
The worst thing
The stretch of asphalt (1.300 m) that you have to do along the road between where the Ecomuseum was (rural lodging Santa Teresa) and the parking of the beach of Cavalleria, because you have to deal with the traffic of vehicles that go to the lighthouse. If you are going to walk up to the lighthouse you will have to follow the same asphalt road. From here to the lighthouse by road it is 2,900 m (one way, and as many back). But you can save some distance by taking a shortcut from the beautiful coves of Viola de Ponent, from where there is a path to the north that avoids the asphalt road.
| Cavallería beach is one of the most famous beaches in Menorca. It stands out for the coloration of its sands, of ferruginous tones. © El Playólogo/Maremecum
Do you know the origin of the Camí de Cavalls?
The Camí de Cavalls was originally designed to connect the watchtowers, forts and cannons that were scattered (and are still preserved) along the coast of Menorca to defend the island from possible enemy attacks. It was necessary to facilitate the transport of troops and artillery, and in those times everything was carried on the backs of horses. Hence the name "horse road". As a possible birth of the road, it is thought to date back to around 1330, in the time of King Jaume II, when it was dictated that an armed horse had to be kept for the defense of the island. Centuries passed and both the English and the French, during their successive periods of domination, were expanding and maintaining it, both for defensive and civilian use. But during the last years of the last century the road was lost in oblivion, and it was not until 2010 when it was reconditioned and equipped with dozens of stairs and wooden railings, more than 1,000 stakes and more than 100 beautiful marés stone and wood barriers to prevent cattle from escaping. Beautiful!
