Built from 1753 to 1849
The Canal de Castilla is one of the most important hydraulic engineering works in Spain. The canal was built from the middle of the XVIII century until 1849. In the XVIII century, the center of Spain was isolated from the world because there wasn´t a fast way of transport to travel. The journeys to Castilla lasted a lot of time and were very costly. So, the economy and the trade were too small. That´s why the king Fernando VI ordered the building of the canal.
The canal meant an instant increase in Castilla’s economy. The canal was used to transport the wheat produced in Castilla. This was our main source of wealth by that time. Furthermore, it was also employed to move the watermills that were near the canal and to irrigate the crops of the place.
In addition to the substantial income that the canal meant for Castilla, it also has become the habitat of lots of different animals, such as the otter or the wild pig, and plants, like the elm or the black poplar.
The canal has never been finished. At the beginning, the canal was going to have four branches which would go from Segovia to Reinosa, a city of Cantabria. However, there weren’t enough resources to finish it. Even so, the canal, with the form of a Y, has a length of 207 kilometers and goes through lots of different towns and villages. It begins in Alar del Rey, in Palencia, and after going through other villages such as Herrera de Pisuerga or Castrillo de Rio, the south canal ends in Valladolid and the Campo canal ends in Medina del Rio Seco.
In this day and age, the canal is enabled. However, you can tour it now in a tourist boat called Marqués de la Ensenada, which offers you a beautiful journey along a part of the Canal de Castilla.
Rodrigo Pérez
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