The Canal of Castile (Canal de Castilla in Spanish) is a

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

in the north of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Constructed between the last half of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century, it was conceived to facilitate the transportation of wheat from Castille to the ports in the Bay of Biscay for export. The canal runs 207 km through the provinces of

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populous municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of th ...

Palencia Palencia () is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Palencia. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in the northern half of ...

and

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

, in the

Autonomous Community The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Sp ...

Castile and León Castile and León is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwestern Spain. Castile and León is the largest autonomous community in Spain by area, covering 94,222 km2. It is, however, sparsely populated, with a pop ...

. The canal was mostly used between 1850 and 1870 but competition with railways saw its use change to irrigation and for powering mills, in the latter part of the 19th century. Navigation ceased in 1959 with the closure of the locks. Parts of the canal are still in use, and although navigation is limited to tourism, the canal is used to irrigate 23,000 hectares in 48 municipalities. The canal is now protected by a heritage listing, having been declared ''

Bien de interés cultural (, , , ) is a category of the heritage register in Spain. The term is also used in Colombia and other Spanish-speaking countries. The term literally means a "good of cultural interest" ("goods" in the economic sense). It includes not only mater ...

'' in 1991.

History

The canal was planned by the Marques de la Ensenada during

Fernando VI Ferdinand VI (; 23 September 1713 – 10 August 1759), called the Learned (''el Prudente'') and the Just (''el Justo''), was King of Spain from 9 July 1746 until his death in 1759. He was the third ruler of the Spanish Bourbon dynasty. He was the ...

's reign in the late 18th century. Its purpose was to boost trade by allowing Tierra de Campos' wheat grain production to be transported from Castile to the northern harbour of Santander and to other markets from there; vice versa, the canal was also meant to facilitate the inflow of products from the Spanish colonies into Castile. The

Spanish War of Independence The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

, budgetary constraints and the difficult passage through the

Cantabrian Mountains The Cantabrian Mountains or Cantabrian Range () are one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain. They stretch for over 300 km (180 miles) across northern Spain, from the western limit of the Pyrenees to the Galician Massif ...

hampered and eventually reduced the initial plan of a 400 km canal, so the canal never reached the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay ( ) is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and along the northern coast of Spain, extending westward ...

as initially planned. Overall, its construction took almost 100 years (from 1753 to 1849) and was eventually halted when railroads were built in northern Spain in the nineteenth century, making the project redundant. The canal was most used during the 1850-1870 period, when up to 400

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

s plied the canal towed by beasts of burden. Later on, the canal evolved into the spine of a huge irrigation system due to its relative inefficiency and slowliness vs. railfreight as a

means of transport Means of transport are transport facilities used to carry people or cargo. __NOTOC__ Examples of means of transport Space *Spacecraft Air *Aircraft *Unmanned aerial vehicle, Drone Water *Ships Land *Automobiles *Bicycles *Carriages *Pack ...

. The locks on the canal were decommissioned in the twentieth century.

The Canal today

The canal has the form of an inverted 'Y' in layout, with two southern branches beginning in (

and Medina de Rioseco (the Southern Branch and Campos Branch respectively, joining into a single canal (the Northern Branch) at the town of Alar del Rey (Palencia) stretching . There is a network of locks, flour mills, warehouses, and docks of historical interest and the whole canal is popular for hiking.

Ecology

The countryside crossed by the canal is of interest for its birdlife. In the Tierra de Campos two large

Special Protection Area A special protection area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and cer ...

s (''La Nava-Campos Norte'' and ''La Nava-Campos Sur'') have been designated. These are notable for birds such as great bustards ('' Otis tarda''), residents of

dryland farming Drylands are defined by a scarcity of water. Drylands are zones where precipitation is balanced by evaporation from surfaces and by transpiration by plants (evapotranspiration). The United Nations Environment Program defines drylands as tropical ...

areas (sometimes described as "steppes") which are typical of the region. The canal, on the other hand, provides valuable habitats for wetland birds such as the bittern ('' Botaurus stellaris''). The canal lends its name to two Sites of Community Importance alongside the watercourse: * a wooded stretch of the canal near Osorno la Mayor protected as ''Canal de Castilla'' (150 ha). * a number of wetlands (some very small) protected as ''Lagunas del Canal de Castilla'' (71 ha). This multi-site protected area has been designated as a

Special Area of Conservation A special area of conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...

and as a Special Protection Area. In 2006-10 the European Union's Life Programme funded restoration of wetlands in the

province of Palencia Palencia is a Provinces of Spain, province of northern Spain, in the northern part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile-Leon, Castile and León in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. It is bordered by the provi ...

with the aim of improving the canal's contribution to

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

. Birds of interest to the project include: * the aquatic warbler ('' Acrocephalus paludicola''). This species, Europe's most endangered songbird, uses Spain as a migration route. * the bittern. The improvements included facilities for bird-watching: two observatories were positioned close to two of the wetlands with the greatest ornithological interest along the Canal of Castile: the Venta de Valdemudo ( Becerril de Campos) and the Valdemorco ( Boadilla del Camino) lagoons. These observatories complemented one already existing (in Toja de las Ribas, Ribas de Campos) before the LIFE project.Canal de Castilla - Wetland restoration and management
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