The Turia river crossed the city of Valencia, Spain, for ages. It provided water and fish resources to citizens long time ago and is cited in books and texts. The problem is that it overflowed every autumn in a meteorological event called cold drop in which floods were produced year after year. Thus, Valencian authorities decided to deviate it upstream so that such floods were not repeated. At this point, they thought what to do with the more than nine kilometers long of new, profitable area that is called the Turia course.

At the beginning, some idiot politicians proposed to convert it in a highway with twelve car lines. “A fast way to go through Valencia”, they argued. Immediately after, lots of citizens and associations presented an innovative idea in the Valencia of the 80’s. They fought to convert the Turia course in a massive garden which could be enjoyed by locals and foreigners. You can see the huge difference between one and the other proposals in the picture bellow. People pressed so much with demonstrations, opinion pieces in newspapers, banners in streets and so on that politicians saw their desire and how important it was. At this point, some politicians contemplated the second proposal as the most interesting and protective to the inhabitants health. In the end, it was the chosen one and we enjoy the Turia course as one of the green lungs of Valencia. By the way, you can cycle it thanks to two bike lines which start at the Cabecera lake and end in the city Aquarium.