Spain's Vigo to unveil futuristic €15-million lift to tackle its hills

If you've been to Vigo, the coastal city in Spain's northwestern Galicia region, you'll know it's pretty hilly.

In fact, there are some that compare Galicia's most populated city with San Francisco, known for the sheer slopes of Lombard Street.

In order to help Vigueses with the hills, in recent years the local government has rolled out the 'Vigo Vertical' programme, which installs ramps, escalators and lifts in the hilliest parts of the city.

Even now, ramps continue to be installed to save people time and energy on the city's steep hills, but none are as ambitious as Vigo's new way of tackling hills will be: the Halo.

The Halo is a 40-metre high lift with a huge, futuristic-looking panoramic ring that would be right at home in a sci-fi film.

The structure was commissioned by Vigo City Council and will connect two neighbourhoods of the city that, although they are not too far from each other, are separated by two obstacles that make it pretty difficult for locals: a steep, 50-metre climb and a main road.

Prueba de iluminación en el ascensor «Halo» en #Vigo, esta tarde.
🎥 Mafel pic.twitter.com/6jgju4eATI

— Mafel Garrido (@GarridoMafel) November 21, 2023

The ambitious project will connect García Barbón with Vialia, the upper and lower parts of the city, and will benefit around 40,000 people who live in the lower part and another 70,000 who live in the upper area.

In order to tackle the topographical difficulties between the two barrios, the council opted for an elevator that will be able to transport 4,000 people an hour.

Computer-generated image showing what Halo's ring-shaped walkway will look like. Source: Vigo City Council

 

The walkway will overlook the estuary and be for the sole use of pedestrians, and the structure itself will weigh around 750 tonnes and has been designed to be both a walkway and viewing point.

However, making such a structure is not easy, definitely not cheap, and not fast.

The building work officially started in August 2022, and although it was initially hoped that the Halo could be operational the following summer, it was delayed and there is now talk that it will open in either December 2023 or early 2024. Vigo Mayor Abel Caballero told Cadena Ser recently that "If everything goes well, we will launch the Halo in January".

As useful as it will be for out-of-breath locals is considerably overbudget.

Local newspaper La Voz de Galicia estimates it to cost a whopping €15.8 million, considerably above the amount that was initially proposed. In February 2021, local government budgeted €7.2 million and thought the structure could be completed within years.