Ups and Downs of the Castle Lifts

Published on 8th July, 2008

spectacular views of the city and sea

For most of the last 45 years visitors to Alicante's emblematic Santa Barbara Castle have been whisked the 143 metres to the top in the castle lifts. The powers that be in 1963 were right in thinking that this would help tourism as the millions of people who've used them attest.

Unfortunately the lifts broke beyond repair 8 months ago and since then a special bus service has been shuttling visitors up and down the mountain to enjoy the spectacular views of the city and sea from the top.

At last the lifts have been replaced and opened to the public again yesterday, when unfortunately, they broke on the first ascent to the castle! However, emergency repairs were quickly carried out and as far as we know, the lifts have been working perfectly since yesterday afternoon.

Life will be made even easier for castle tourists when the plan to restore a 205 metre tunnel from the lifts to the Avenida Jovellana is completed at a cost of €200,000 in the near future.

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