usatoday24
“While the world wobbles, nature seems to want to compensate us.” This phrase of Jose Luis Gallego summarizes very well what is happening in the Spanish countryside. With full swamps and aquifers recharging, Spain is living “its most splendid spring in decades.”
And that has an unexpected beneficiary: tourism.
The many droughts in each drought. Galician explained in El Confidencial That, in broad strokes, there are three types of droughts: the meteorological (linked to the shortage of rainfall), the hydrological (which has to do with the water in the system. – rivers, swamps and aquifers) and the edaphic (which is related to the soil and its ability to provide the vegetation of the water it needs).
The good news is that we have overcome all three and the land knows. It is no longer that the fields of Extremadura, Castilla or Andalusia are a show; It is that even the ugliest and dirty surroundings of any Spanish city are pretty. It is true that the wetlands plagued by birds and overflowers of vegetation are the areas where this “March miracle” It shows morebut even the most arid places are full of surprises.
The Sea of Castile. The best example can be seen in that corner between the provinces of Cuenca and Guadalajara that is usually known as “Mar de Castilla“. There are five reservoirs (Almoguera, Bolarque, Entrepeñas, Estramera and Zorita) in the Middle Tagus and one more (good day) in the Low Alcarria with a capacity of 2,515 hm³ and a tourist capacity that has lived better times.
In the 60s, as consequences of the hydrological and developmental policies of the Franco regime, the region was filled with urbanizations, restaurants and small embarrassing. It became a tourist claim that improves infrastructure, first, and The Tajo-Segura transfer, afterthey put in a slow decline. The drought of recent years did the rest.
However, with the rains of March, the Sea of Castile It is back.
How to turn water into gold. Just read the chronicles of the local press to verify that the residents of the riverside municipalities are really excited. Entrepeñas has only transferred water to good times eight times since 1956, The last almost 30 years ago; But this weekend it has happened again. The swamp has such a amount of water that you have been able to see really unprecedented images (or that had been not seen decades).
He Runrun of the situation He has made “every day more curious who arrive at the riverside region to witness in the first person and immortalize with their cameras or with their mobile phones such an exceptional moment and who knows if unrepeatable.”
The question that is asked in the Sea of Castile is how much the situation will endure and if the Lcoal Tourism of it can be used.
Although, in reality, it is a question that many more people are asked. Our country has more than 1,200 swamps and “almost double the fresh water coast than Marina in the country.” The reservoirs have historically been much more than water reserves: they have been tourist attractions that contributed to stop the demographic bleeding of emptied Spain.
The problem is that, in recent decades, that interest has been falling little by little. And rural tourism has failed to fill the hole fully. Therefore, the councils of Cáceres, Lugo, Badajoz and the 530 municipalities associated with the Federation of Municipalities with Hydroelectric Plant and Embalses of Spain (15 communities and 46 provinces) have decided Bring Pantanos Tourism back.
Upon? Indeed and with A very simple value proposal: Adventure activities (“Barranquismo, the paragliding or balloon walks”, “Boat routes or kayak, candle courses, sport fishing or paddle-south”, but also “horseway or bicycle routes, enjoy the observation of birds or practicing hiking”), proximity gastronomy and cultural, monumental and historical heritage.
A new solution for a worrying problem. As We counted a few days agowhile in 2024 the hotels in Spain registered 7.5% more of foreign travelers, the speakers of Spanish tourists stagnate with a minimum rise of 0.2%.
The price increase and the massification of the most important tourist areas are the main reasons for that break of national tourism. Therefore, now it is the least exploited areas that seek their part of a cake that grows 4.9% per year. And, seeing the photos of the country’s reservoirs, it makes a lot of sense.
Image | Riaño, León (Paulo Valdivieso) | Pelayo Arbués | Eduardo Kenji Amorim
In Xataka | Mass tourism has the days counted in Spain thanks to a phenomenon outside its control: extreme heat
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings