The Guadalete (; ) is a river located almost entirely in the
Spanish Province of Cádiz
Cádiz is a Provinces of Spain, province of southern Spain, in the southwestern part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is the southernmost part of mainland Spain, as well as the southernmost part of ...
, rising in the
Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park at an elevation of about , and running for into the
Bay of Cádiz at
El Puerto de Santa Maria, north of the city of
Cádiz
Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...
. The river's name comes from the Arabic phrase ''وادي لكة'' (Wadi lakath) meaning "River of Forgetfulness".
Course
From its source in the Sierra de Grazalema, the Guadalete passes:
*
Grazalema
*The Reservoir (Embalse) of
Zahara
*
Puerto Serrano
*Briefly enters
Seville province and reenters
Cádiz province
*
Villamartín
*The Reservoir (Embalse) of
Bornos
*The Reservoir (Embalse) of
Arcos
*
Arcos de la Frontera
*La Barca de la Florida
*Lomopardo and El Portal (near
Jerez de la Frontera
Jerez de la Frontera () or simply Jerez, also cited in old English-language sources as , is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Sp ...
)
It then flows into the
Bay of Cádiz in
El Puerto de Santa María
El Puerto de Santa María (), locally known as El Puerto and historically in English as Port Saint Mary, is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain located on the banks of the Guadalete River in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. , the c ...
.
There are several dams with reservoirs along its course, including the Embalse de Zahara and the Embalse de Bornos. The "
Sierra Greenway", a bicycle path reclaimed from an abandoned railroad line, also passes along the river.
The largest tributaries of the Guadalete are the
Guadalporcún, and the
Majaceite, which joins it at Junta de los Ríos downstream from
Arcos de la Frontera.
El río Guadalete
at riosycuencas.com (Spanish)
History
The river may have been the location of the Battle of Guadalete
The Battle of Guadalete was the first major battle of the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, fought in 711 at an unidentified location in what is now southern Spain between the Visigoths under their king, Roderic, and the invading forces o ...
in 711, at which the Visigothic
The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied barbarian military group united under the comman ...
army was defeated by an invading Muslim army, leading to the conquest of Iberia by the Umayyad Caliphate
The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member o ...
. The river was once the frontier between Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
and Moorish
The term Moor is an exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a single, distinct or self-defi ...
Iberia
The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, compri ...
, receiving the sobriquet ''Río de los Muertos'' (river of the dead).
See also
* List of rivers of Spain
This is an incomplete list of rivers that are at least partially in Spain. The rivers flowing into the sea are sorted along the coast. Rivers flowing into other rivers are listed by the rivers they flow into. Rivers in the mainland Iberian Peninsu ...
* San Pedro River, Cádiz
References
External links
Rivers of Spain
Rivers of Andalusia
Landforms of the Province of Cádiz
{{Spain-river-stub