The association Nieve y Montaña de Asturias submitted a letter to the Dirección General de Transportes of the Principado de Asturias on 9 November. It calls on the authority to monitor the safety of the lifts at the Valgrande‑Pajares resort and, in particular, to oversee the ongoing main inspection of the El Brañillín chairlift. The association cites damage which, it says, was found during the partial dismantling and dismantling of the beginner lift.
The call comes in response to continuing uncertainty surrounding the reopening of individual lifts at Valgrande‑Pajares. In early October, reports had already highlighted uncertainty about the condition of El Brañillín and the timetable for its reopening. In recent months, the regional administration has commissioned extensive inspections and maintenance work on several lifts, according to its own account. Publicly available procurement and tender documents indicate that inspections, including non-destructive testing, were planned.
According to the association, the requested external oversight by the Dirección General de Transportes is intended to ensure independent monitoring of the ongoing inspection before the chairlift carries passengers again. The responsible authority and operator have not yet published specific technical findings on the alleged damage. The description of the defects is therefore the association’s claim; no official confirmation appears in the documents examined.
If the transport authority orders its own inspections, additional assessments and possible remedial work could follow. Industry representatives and local stakeholders point in this connection to economic risks for the coming winter season: delays in reopening El Brañillín could reduce the range of activities and visitor numbers at Valgrande‑Pajares, affecting income in the surrounding mountain towns. At the same time, they stress that safety inspection must take priority before approval.
So far, the regional administration has maintained that regular and ad hoc inspections of the facilities are being carried out. Reports in regional media and official notices indicate that inspections were prepared or conducted in late summer and autumn. However, the authority has yet to issue a final assessment of the El Brañillín chairlift’s operational safety. On Monday, it had not been decided whether, or to what extent, the oversight requested by Nieve y Montaña de Asturias would be added.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).