Castilla–La Mancha Bridge

The Castilla–La Mancha Bridge (Spanish: Puente de Castilla-La Mancha) is a cable-stayed bridge in Talavera de la Reina, Spain.

Castilla–La Mancha Bridge Puente de Castilla-La Mancha
Coordinates	39°57′2″N 4°48′22″W
Carries	2 lanes of motor vehicles on each side
Crosses	Tagus
Locale	Talavera de la Reina, Spain
Preceded by	Puente de la TO-1262
Followed by	Puente del Príncipe
Characteristics
Design	Cable-stayed bridge
Total length	730 m
Width	43.50 m[1]
Height	192 m
Longest span	318 m[1]
History
Architect	Francisco Sánchez de León
Engineering design by	Ramón Sánchez de León
Constructed by	Sacyr, Aglomancha and J. Bárcenas
Opened	17 October 2011
Location

History and description

Promoted by the Regional Government of Castile-La Mancha,^[2] the foundation stone was laid in November 2007.^[3] It was opened on 17 October 2011.^[3] The building companies were Sacyr, Aglomancha and J. Bárcenas.^[2]

Standing 192 m high, it was the tallest cable-stayed bridge in Spain upon the time of its inauguration.^[4] It features 152 wire ropes.^[2]

With a total cost of nearly €74M, it was widely considered a waste of money in the media.^[4] With the opening of the so-called Variante Suroeste of the N-502 [es] in March 2015, the bridge—via the Ronda del Tajo—is expected to finally help to drive the heavy-duty vehicle traffic out of the city center.^[5]

As the bridge carried little traffic, it was often referred to as "the bridge to nowhere."^[4][6] While it is strictly prohibited, since 2016, multiple incidents related to illegal climbers have been reported.^[7] On October 13, 2024, a 26-year-old English man died after while attempting to climb the bridge. The deceased was accompanied by a 24-year-old compatriot, both had reportedly traveled to Talavera to create content for social media.^[8]

In the third decade of the 21st century, it was often used as a drinking place or a place for illegal automobile racing.^[6]