Ruta 99 is an initiative inspired by Route 66 in the USA and the Spanish pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela. The aim is to increase tourism in areas that are highly threatened by displacement. In the Valencia region, you can visit 24 villages with fewer than 100 inhabitants. You can also register your visits to document that you have been on a pilgrimage to small, peaceful villages where life moves slowly. This post describes a round trip to the four villages in the Alicante province.
The four selected villages in the province of Alicante are located a few kilometers apart in a beautiful mountainous area near Alcoy. Here there is a typical inland climate for Mediterranean countries with hot, dry summers and cold winters with precipitation that can also include snow and ice. This makes it exceptionally green and lush here in the winter months.
Benillup
Benillup is located on top of a small hill 565 meters above sea level. It has 94 inhabitants, more than a thousand years of history and looks more or less as it always has. It has Muslim origins, but was conquered by the Christians in the 13th century. The name Benillup means child of the wolf. The houses in the small town center are organized in a circle around the church square with the 16th-century Eglesia de Nostra Senyora del Rosai in the center. Unfortunately, it is only open for mass on Sundays.
Most of the inhabitants of the village are adults and elderly. The school for young children has long since closed, and it is difficult to get families with children to settle here. Most of the time it is completely quiet, but occasionally a window or door opens - an old lady is watering flowers, an old man is walking the dog. If you make contact, you are greeted with kindness and interest.
The regional government of Valencia has created an app on the internet that you can use by going to: https://www.app-ruta99.es. There you can register as a user and then obtain a virtual accreditation by registering the places you visit. The app lists the main sights in each city, and you must register at least three to have the village approved. You must be near the point of interest in question to have it registered, as the app uses your mobile phone's GPS to confirm your location.
In Benillup you can register 1) the church at the church square, 2) the ethnological museum and 3) the Mirador de Travadell viewpoint which is located in the square outside the museum. The ethnological museum is located in the same building as the pharmacy in a building that is also the municipality's cultural center. To enter the museum you have to go through the pharmacy. Admission is free.
The next stops on the tour of small mountain villages are: Benimassot, Tollos and Famorca. To get there you drive through a lush, green mountain landscape. It takes about 20 minutes to drive from Benillup via Gorga to Benimassot. The roads are winding and narrow, but in good condition and safe to drive on.
Benimassot
The small village of Benimassot, located 729 meters above sea level and with 96 inhabitants, was originally Muslim. In 1608, 16 families of Moors lived here, and at that time this was a strategically important hub for agricultural production. A little later, the Moors were expelled and the village was taken over by Christians. This led to a period of population growth, traces of which can be seen today in the narrow, picturesque streets with the old stone houses.
In Benimassot there are several fiestas, such as the fiesta de la vendima (harvest festival) held in August/September, the fiesta de San Miguel Arcángel which starts on September 29th and the fiesta de la Mare de Déu de la Salut which is held in November. The latter is celebrated with wine, dancing, ethnological activities, parades, a market with handicrafts and religious activities in honour of the Virgen de la Salud, the village's patron saint.
There are three places in the route 99 app where you can register for Benimassot: 1) the church, 2) Font de Baix and 3) Font de Rabal. Font de Rabal is located on the main road at the bottom of the town, while Font de Baix is located to the west of the town at the same level as the church. Follow the street that runs from the church as far as it goes west.
The village is located on a slope with steep and narrow streets. If you follow Calle de Ascención a El Calvario you will reach a nice viewpoint at the top of the hill. There are many opportunities for nice walks in the area around the village.
Tollos
The next stop on the route is Tollos, which is only a five-minute drive away. This area has probably been inhabited since prehistoric times, but the first written documentation of Tollos dates back to the 13th century. At that time, the village was Muslim. After the Moors were expelled in 1609, it was uninhabited for a long period before it was slowly populated by Christians. Since the 1950s, the population has been steadily declining and in 2024 was down to 38 inhabitants. The livelihood has been agriculture, mainly the cultivation of olives and peaches. However, the area used for this today is only a small fraction of what it once was.
Although it has been difficult to get younger people to take over when the older ones can no longer live in the houses, the town is well maintained. It is impressive to see that even in such a small village the most important things are in place, such as a church, a town hall, a pharmacy, a sports facility and two natural water sources. Food is brought directly to the buyer by car from the baker, butcher and grocer, and the doctor visits the village twice a week.
For tourists, the village is a gem. It is a nice experience to wander around the steep, narrow, picturesque streets that were made long before the car was even thought of. You can register the following three places in the Ruta 99 app: 1) the church, 2) Font Vella, 3) Parc de Tollos.
In this village too, there are good opportunities to buy a home - and correspondingly difficult to sell. Often some rehabilitation is required.
The last village on the route is Famorca, located about a 5-minute drive from Tollos.
Famorca
Famorca is a 5-minute drive from Tollos. It is the last village on the route. It had 44 inhabitants in 2024 and is located at an altitude of 728 meters in the Seta Valley (valle de Seta) between the Sierra Alfaro to the north and the Sierra de la Serrella to the south. The exact age of the village is unknown, but the discovery of cave paintings in the Barranco de la Fita shows that there have been people in this area since the Stone Age. The village was originally Muslim and had 26 houses with a total of 117 inhabitants in 1602. After the Moors were expelled, the population decreased drastically. In 1646, only seven of the houses were inhabited with a total of 32 inhabitants, all of whom were brought from Mallorca.
In the 19th century, Famorca was known for its production of ice, which was collected from the mountains and transported down to the coast on mules. However, the most important industry was the production of olive oil and wine. The population was at its peak in 1910, when there were 307 inhabitants in Famorca. Since then, the population has steadily decreased to the current level of 44 inhabitants. Today, the local economic income comes from the production of olives and almonds.
Like the other three villages on Route 99, Famorca has an impressive number of public facilities considering that only 44 people live here. For example, they have a restaurant, church, health office and a nice sports facility.
The biggest attraction for Famorca is the cave with the cave paintings Pinturas Rupestres del Barranc de la Fita. To get there you have to drive a few kilometers further down the valley on the CV-720 until you reach a small parking lot on the right side of the road. From there you have to walk to the other side of the road and further across the river Río Fomarca. Then follows a hike of about. 3 kilometers which is described as very difficult on some of the sections where you have to climb. It is estimated that you will spend about 1 hour actively walking on the trip.
Concluding remarks
All the villages are from the Middle Ages and have narrow, peaceful, picturesque streets without car traffic where you get the feeling of being in a different and less stressful time. They also have nice residents who appreciate someone visiting them. These are qualities that you as a tourist appreciate.
It is easy to understand that these remote places are threatened by displacement. Therefore, the initiative with Ruta 99 seems both sensible and desirable. But it is a little difficult to see that the potential of Ruta 99 has been exploited well enough. There are no shops here, and only two of the villages (Benimassot and Famorca) have restaurants - all of which were closed when we were there on a Wednesday in March. Is the plan for these villages to remain untouched by tourism, and for tourists to leave their money in the slightly larger villages in the region? If so, as a tourist I can live with that. The four villages can be visited at any time of year, but it is perhaps especially exciting to travel there during the fiesta. The nature is greener and more lush in the winter months.
The Valencia region has three provinces: Castellon, Valencia and Alicante. Villages in Ruta 99 are found in all three of these. There are also plans to create a "Ruta 99 plus" for villages threatened with eviction that have slightly more than 100 inhabitants. There are a total of 180 villages in the Valencia region that are threatened with eviction. Here is a list of the villages in Ruta 99:
Castellon:
Castell de Cabres
Espadilla
Fuente la Reina
Fuentes de Ayódar
Herbers
Higueras
Matet
Palanques
Pavías
Scañet
Torralba del Pina
Torrechiva
Vallat
Vallibona
Villamalur
Villanueva de Viver
Villores
Valencia
Carrícola
Puebla de San Miguel
Sempere
Alicante
Benillup
Benimassot
Tollos
FomarcaAlicante
More excursions: www.turideer.com
Excursion of the week: Ruta 99 - tour to small mountain villages in the Alicante province
Suitable for: Everyone, but there are steep hills in three of the villages.
Duration: You will probably spend 1/2-1 hour in each village - more if you like to take photos.
How to get there: Enter Benillup in Google Maps. Alternatively: Take the A7 towards Alcoy from Alicante. Take the exit towards Benimarfull on the CV-700 a few kilometres after Alcoy. Just after Benimarfull, take the CV-704 towards Benillup, which is the first stop on the route. Then follow the CV-710 to Gorga where you turn left onto the CV-720 towards Benimassot. The last two villages, Tollos and Famorca, are on the CV-720 a few kilometres apart. After Famorca, continue on the CV-720 until you reach Castell de Castells where you turn right towards Tarbena on the CV-752. In Tarbena, turn right towards Callosa d'en Sarrià where you follow signs towards Benidorm and later Alicante.
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