(València-Tarragona line)

Running between Benicàssim and Oropesa del Mar, the Vía Verde del Mar is 5.7 km long and follows part of the old Valencia–Tarragona rail route.

The Vía Verde del Mar, or ‘Sea Greenway’, is one of the few remaining parts of the Valencia–Tarragona railway line, converted to serve this new purpose along the Valencian stretch. Building the original railway route between the two regional capitals took more than 7 years, from May 1861 to 21 July 1868, when the bridge over the Ebro River in Tortosa was opened (now part of the Val de Zafán Greenway). The main driving force behind the line was the controversial José Campo, the head of the Sociedad de los Ferrocarriles de Almansa a Valencia y Tarragona (AVT), who agilely walked the fine line that separated public service and individual interests at the time. The route between Valencia and Tarragona, a sort of historical connection between the ancient Via Augusta and the current Mediterranean Corridor project, was considered a fundamental route for the country’s economic development. Its owners and infrastructures varied over time: the AVT was absorbed by the Compañía de los Caminos de Hierro del Norte de España (Norte) in 1891. Following the Civil War, the railway was nationalised almost entirely, and this connection became part of the Renfe network, which gradually incorporated technical modernisations that would affect the route.

The stretch of railway that is now the Vía Verde del Mar stopped operating in 2003. It was replaced by an innovative, double-track, high-speed bypass. This was the end of a meandering single-track route that crossed through urban areas, which would be made into a greenway by the Ministry of Development in collaboration with the Valencian Government between 2008 and 2009.

On this route, the following elements are indicated:

• In green, the current greenway route.
• In red, sections of the original railway line, where it deviates from the current greenway route.
• 27 points of interest, including viewpoints.