The Government of Asturias celebrates the 25th anniversary of the Bulnes funicular, which since its opening has carried more than 1.6 million passengers

The Government of Asturias today celebrated the 25th anniversary of the funicular of Bulnes, which since its inauguration has carried more than 1.6 million passengers up to the village of Bulnes, in the municipality of Cabrales, nestled in the central massif of the Picos de Europa National Park. 

The president, Adrián Barbón, used this infrastructure to visit the village, “a landscape that is unique, exceptional and unrepeatable”, and highlighted the usefulness of this means of transport, which has changed the lives of its residents since it entered into service. “Since this work also requires maintenance, I want to stress that since 2019 we have invested more than seven million to improve it, so that we can continue providing the best service, not only to visitors, but above all to the people who live here”, he said. 

The head of the regional government had a special remembrance for two of his predecessors, the presidents Sergio Marqués and Vicente Álvarez Areces, both deceased, for having promoted the construction of the funicular, in the case of the former, and for having continued the project, in the case of the latter.  

“We do not want to turn Asturias into a kind of trompe-l'oeil. This is not a place exclusively for enjoying and admiring its beauty, although it is also that, but a place to live, which is why we must think of the people who reside here”, said Barbón, who thanked the residents of Bulnes for maintaining the landscape and the life of the village. 

Activity overview

In its 25 years in service, the funicular has carried 1,663,000 passengers. Last year, 115,931 people rode this means of transport up to Bulnes, the highest figure to date.

The Government of Asturias has allocated more than 7.1 million to the maintenance and reinforcement of the infrastructure's safety. These investments have included the comprehensive renovation of the electrical control system and also of the loading platforms used to transport goods, which doubled their capacity to 9.6 tonnes. Likewise, the braking carriages have been replaced. 

In addition, since last spring the operating hours have been extended through the addition of new frequencies, which are in effect all year round. The new schedule aims to better match demand and existing needs, and increases the number of frequencies from 22 to 26 in peak season and from 16 to 20 during the rest of the year.

Commemorative exhibition and website

The president of the Principality visited a small commemorative exhibition installed in the entrance hall of the funicular, accompanied by the Councillor for Mobility, Environment and Emergency Management, Alejandro Calvo, and the mayor of Cabrales, Jose Sánchez Díaz. 

The exhibition, which will remain open in the coming months, traces the history of the infrastructure and reflects the strategic milestone that the construction of the funicular represented for the history of Bulnes in every sense.

The explanatory panels include photographs of the access routes to the village and of the difficulty involved in transporting goods before the funicular existed, as well as of the technical challenge posed by its construction over more than three years. 

In addition to the exhibition installed in Poncebos, all the information and the documentary archive gathered from various sources has been compiled on the website funicularbulnes.com, a space where you can view images of the construction and recall the social debate that arose around its launch. 

As a keepsake of the anniversary, the physical tickets sold at the ticket office will bear the infrastructure's anniversary date.