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as comarcas de Aliste y Sayago, localizadas en la provincia de Zamora y muy próximas a Portugal, vivieron durante siglos separadas por la frontera natural que constituye el río Duero, en una zona dominada por los profundos cañones de los Arribes, que han sido declarados Parque Natural por su impresionante belleza paisajística. Los vecinos de ambas riberas tuvieron que recurrir históricamente a las barcas que comunicaban los municipios de Pino del Oro y Villadepera para salvar este cauce fluvial. Y así fue hasta 1914, año en el que se inauguró el puente Pino (también llamado puente “de Requejo” en honor a su impulsor, el diputado Federico Requejo). Se trata de una obra de enorme complejidad técnica y de montaje para aquella época, que fue acometida por la Sociedad Metalúrgica Duro Felguera y que ya entrado el siglo XXI sigue en pie, cruzando orgullosa el río Duero, casi a 100 metros de altura sobre sus aguas.
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Puente Pino o de Requejo / Zamora · España
he regions of Aliste and Sayago, in the province of Zamora and very close to Portugal, were separated for centuries by the natural barrier of the River Duero, in an area dominated by the deep Arribes gorges that have been declared a National Park for being an area of outstanding natural beauty. Historically the inhabitants of both sides of the river had to use pontoons that linked the towns of Pino del Oro and Villadepera. And that was how it was until 1914; the year that the Pino Bridge was built (also called “Requejo”, after the man who sponsored its construction, the politician Federico Requejo). It was an enormously complex project for the age, that was carried out by Sociedad Metalúrgica Duro Felguera and which is still standing in the 21st century, proudly crossing the River Duero 90 metres high over its waters. The Pino Bridge was opened on 15 th September 1914 by Abilio Calderón, the then general director of Public Works under the reign of Alfonso XIII and just one month after the start of World War I. At the time it was the highest and longest bridge in Spain. Twelve years earlier in 1902, Socie-