The “Ruta del Cares” is the most popular hiking route in the Picos de Europa, a mountain range that stretches across the regions of Cantabria, Castile and León, and Asturias in northern Spain. The eleven-kilometer trail attracts approximately 300,000 hikers annually.
The popularity of this route is self-explanatory. The hiking trail runs at an altitude of almost 700 meters along the Cares River, which flows through an impressive gorge. Travelers can look forward to breathtaking views, steep cliffs, and tunnels carved into the rock.
However, one of the many visitors to the Cares Trail engaged in unacceptable behavior and now faces a fine of up to €200,000. In an internet video that quickly went viral on TikTok, he throws a huge rock over the cliff into the gorge. After a long fall, the rock shatters against the rocks with a loud crash, much to the delight of the tourist.
@piedrass.tirar QUE LOCURA😍 (si cae al agua) Valorad la piedra en los comentarios rockeros!!
♬ original sound – piedras.tirar
In the clip, the young man stands at the edge of the cliff, lifts the stone with both hands, and happily announces to the camera that he is currently on the Cares Trail. After throwing the stone, he laughs loudly and enthusiastically comments on the stone’s explosion.
The online reaction, however, is anything but euphoric. Many TikTok users are outraged by the behavior and point out the dangers. The spot where the young man threw the stone into the depths is crossed by trails used by local farmers and their livestock. With his action, the tourist is thus endangering human lives.
His behavior is also extremely worrying from an ecological perspective. The Picos de Europa are a sensitive and specially protected ecosystem. Such stone throwing can not only endanger human and animal lives, but also alter the natural environment, cause damage to the trail structure, and significantly disrupt the lives of animals. The Spanish police, the Guardia Civil, has now launched an investigation. The tourist now faces a fine of between €5,000 and €200,000.
Dangerous Internet Trend
It is still unclear whether the authorities have identified the Spaniard responsible. However, he is not alone in his behavior and the video. It is part of a current trend on social media. Such videos of stone throwing have enjoyed great popularity, particularly on TikTok, for several years. The sequence is always the same:
Typically, young men throw large stones from bridges, cliffs, or similar high structures into bodies of water. Legal consequences, the danger to others, and the interference with nature usually play no role in these clips. While most of these videos are celebrated online, the young man from Spain now faces a hefty fine.
