Sanabria Lake (, ; ) is a

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

located 8 km to the northwest of Puebla de Sanabria in the

province of Zamora Zamora () is a Provinces of Spain, province of western Spain, in the western part of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Province of Ourense, Ourense, Province of Le� ...

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 ...

. It is one of the very few sizable natural lakes in Spain. With a surface of 368 hectares it is also the largest

glacial lake A glacial lake is a body of water with origins from glacier activity. They are formed when a glacier erodes the land and then melts, filling the depression created by the glacier. Formation Near the end of the last glacial period, roughly 10,0 ...

in the

Iberian Peninsula 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, comprisin ...

. The main inflow and outflow of water from the lake is the river Tera. The lake is a widening of the Tera. The Sanabria lake is now within the limits of the Sanabria Lake Natural Park. The area was declared a Natural Park in 1978.Royal decree that established the park (in Spanish)
, Junta de

Castilla y León Castile, Castille or Castilla may refer to: Places Spain * Castile (historical region), a vaguely defined historical region of Spain covering most of Castile and León, all of the Community of Madrid and most of Castilla–La Mancha * Kingdom o ...

website The Sanabria comarca is one of the few areas in Western Europe having a sizeable population of wild

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

living in the Sierra de la Culebra mountain range. The lake was the site of a tragedy when the Vega de Tera dam failed and triggered a deadly flood. Bodies of the 144 killed ended up in the lake, most not recovered.

References

External links

The Area of Comunitary Interest (SCI) Sanabria lake and surroundings (ES 4190009)
{{Authority control Lakes of Castile and León

See also

References

External links