Alcántara Bridge

No other bridge has moved me quite like the Alcántara bridge did.

It’s yet another true feat of engineering that crosses the Tajo river at 71 meters above the water, making it one of the tallest bridges in the world.

If you compare it to the aqueduct in Segovia, which is only 28 meters above the ground at its highest point, you can see how big the bridge really is.

The Romans were proud of themselves for constructing the bridge, making a plaque that will make your hair stand on end as you read it. In addition to dedicating it to the emperor Trajano and the Gods, you can read the famous sentence “PONTEM PERPETVI MANSVRVM IN SECVLA MVNDI,” “the bridge that will stand for all the centuries of time.” And almost two thousand years later, there it is.

No one should build a bridge without first seeing the bridge in Alcántara. Slender, robust, elegant, functional, majestic, and with an infinity of words you could use to describe it, being one of the biggest Romanesque constructions.

It’s endured the beatings of the Tajo river, enemy attacks during war time. Today it continues to be a functioning bridge and a link between Spain and Portugal.

Despite the deterioration this monument has gone through over the years, its restoration is needed. With the collaboration and support of all we can achieve guaranteeing its perfect conservation so that future generations can take it in with the same mix of awe and pride that we have now.

The population has been asking for this tremendous 20-century old bridge to be declared a World Heritage Site for years.