DR1 Daily News - Dominican Republic

The wonderful cable car that offered tourists a thrilling trip up to the top of Isabel de Torres mountain in Puerto Plata city has been closed for nearly a year. The system had been refurbished at least twice since it opened more than 50 years ago. However, it appears that recent inspections have caused officials to take the cable cars out of service.

There is growing protest over the prolonged closure. Most of the protests came from the many merchants who sold items to tourists and whose livelihood depended on the operation of the system. There is a road up to the Botanical Gardens at the top of the mountain, but the ride up was the highlight that had people visiting.

It is, or was, aside from the beaches, one of the two most important natural tourist attractions on the North Coast, with the other being the 27 Falls at Damajagua.

In response to popular...