This Greenway is based on the route of the Carcaixent- Denia railway, undoubtedly the oldest narrow gauge railway on the Spanish mainland. The first section, between Carcaixent and Gandía, dates back to 1864 when an animal-drawn tram service was introduced, running on 35 km of tracks. After a long, drawn out process during which the railway concession changed hands several times, in 1884 the line was extended as far as Denia, now as a conventional railway drawn by steam locomotives.

The railway was essentially agricultural by nature, and from the time of its full inauguration it belonged to the broad gauge railway company with which it linked up at Carcaixent: first to Ferrocarriles Almansa, Valencia y Tarragona (AVT) and later to Ferrocarriles del Norte. It would have passed over to Renfe when this state-owned company was created, but Renfe operated only broad gauge railways so the line was first run by EFE (Explotación de Ferrocarriles por el Estado) and then by FEVE, the last company to operate it.

The railway’s quiet existence came to an end in 1969 when the Carcaixent-Gandía section was closed down due to the fact that part of that route was to be covered by a modern suburban train service running from Valencia via Silla-Cullera. The first broad gauge trains arrived at Gandía in 1972 and it was not long before plans were made to extend the service to Denia.

While this project was under study, the Gandía-Denia section of narrow gauge railway was closed down in December 1974, and the tracks were pulled up in the expectation that the route would be reopened as a broad gauge suburban line. After years of abandonment during which there were many attempts to reopen the railway, the route has once again made the news. Now hundreds of cyclists and hikers of every kind and condition now ride or walk the 7 km that separate Gandía from Oliva, the stretch that has been reclaimed as a Greenway by the Ministry of the Environment.