The Monastery of Piedra, one of the great tourist attractions of Aragon, will not be able to open in the coming months due to the damage caused by the passage of DANA. This Cistercian monastery, located in the Zaragoza municipality of Nuévalos, suffered the overflow of the Piedra River due to intense rainscausing major damage to all types of infrastructure.
Actually, This historic monastery has already suffered the effects of a major river flood in Septemberbut the damage could then be repaired within a week. Now they estimate it could take two or three months, meaning the center wouldn’t open until next year. “We are in the evaluation phase. Bridges, stairs, accesses and important points of the visit were damaged. This didn’t happen a month and a half ago, but it has now. It could take two months or more,” underlined its director, José Pont.
In this sense, During the September flood, the flow reached 31 cubic meters/secondwhile the usual thing is that it does not reach the cubic meter. Now, even though they don’t have official measurements, From the monastery, it is calculated that this figure has “easily” doubled, between 50 and 60 cubic meters/second..
Therefore, the natural park, a place of great landscape beauty, with numerous waterfalls divided into countless watercourses or streams, including one of 50 meters, will remain closed to visitors, as well as catering services and the hotel. . “The park is a benchmark engine for the region. Surrounding towns, restaurants and rural homes will also suffer from the river.», lamented Pont.
The Minister of Environment and Tourism, Manuel Blasco, visited the facilities of the Monastery of Piedra to ratify the support of the Government of Aragon for those affected by DANA in a visit to this natural and heritage space. “We will try to recover the level of tourism in this area, given that it is one of the economic engines of the region.“, he stressed.
SO, The Government of Aragon will approve this Wednesday an aid plan for public and private infrastructure. “Private companies generally have their insurance, and we will supplement them to help everyone restore, as quickly as possible, the situation before the floods,” he explained.
The Monastery of Piedra is one of the main points of tourist attraction in the Community of Calatayud and It attracts around 300,000 visitors to the site each year.located in the municipality of Nuévalos.
