The Camino Real had to overcome a multitude of obstacles to connect the south
Connecting the island’s capital with the area of Abona required overcoming the deep ravines, steep slopes and arid wastelands of the south of Tenerife. This was also the case for the Carretera General del Sur, which reached San Miguel de Abona in 1940.
The part of the road between Granadilla and San Miguel was built between 1934 and 1940. From here you can see, a little further up, the bridge over the Barranco de la Orchilla ravine, the completion of which marked the arrival to San Miguel. The new road gradually replaced the Camino Real, leaving it without its commercial use and relegated to a fast road for communications on foot.
At this point, the Camino Real crosses the Barranco de la Orchilla ravine, whose name refers to a lichen that has been prized as a dye since Roman times: the orchilla (Roccella canariensis). In the Canary Islands there are about 13 different species growing on coastal cliffs and ravines exposed to the sea. It is unlikely that the “orchilleros” worked in this middle area of the ravine, less influenced by the sea breeze, but their risky activity baptised, forever, this steep ravine that separates Granadilla from San Miguel.