The Rubagón is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

that runs entirely through 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 ...

, in the eastern part of the Montaña Palentina, in

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 ...

Route

The Rubagón rises in the

Sierra de Híjar The Sierra de Híjar is a mountain range of the Cantabrian Mountains System, located in the Province of Palencia and the Cantabria, Autonomous Community of Cantabria in northern Spain. Geography The range is long, and runs in a west-northwest t ...

, between the peaks of El Cueto and

Valdecebollas The Valdecebollas Peak (2144 m a.s.l.) is an elevation of the Montaña Palentina, in the foothills of the Cantabrian Mountains, Cantabrian mountain range (Spain), in the orographic knot of La Cebollera, or massif of Valdecebollas. This massif for ...

, and flows through the towns of

Brañosera Brañosera is a municipality located in the province of Palencia, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census ( INE), the municipality had a population of 284 inhabitants. Brañosera has the oldest town hall in the entirety of Spain. ...

Barruelo de Santullán Barruelo de Santullán is a municipality located in the Palencia (province), province of Palencia, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census (Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain), INE), the municipality had a population of 1,59 ...

, Porquera de Santullán, Cillamayor,

Villavega de Aguilar Villavega is municipality located in the province of Palencia, Castile and León, Spain. It is placed in the confluence between two comarcas, Tierra de Campos and Vega-Valdavia. This little village is in the left side of the Valdavia river. The ...

and

Nestar In astrophysics, a gravastar (a blend word of "gravitational vacuum star") is an object hypothesized in a 2001 paper by Pawel O. Mazur and Emil Mottola as an alternative to the black hole theory. It has the usual black hole metric outside of ...

, before it dilutes into the Camesa near Quintanilla de las Torres. It is rich in trout, and is catalogued as a fishing preserve between its source and the town of Barruelo de Santullán.

Etymology

''Rubag'' is a word of

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

origin meaning "red", so its name is attributed to the color of its waters, which flow through a terrain with a high content of

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

, and in the thawing season or after heavy rains give this color to the river.

History

It is estimated that the Rubagón basin has been habitually populated since the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

,Brañosera
Aportaciones Arqueológicas sobre la cuenca del Rubagón
(in English) being included in the territory of

Cantabria Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is called a , a Nationalities and regions of Spain, historic community, in its current ...

conquered by the Roman legions during the

Cantabrian wars The Cantabrian Wars (29–19 BC) (''Bellum Cantabricum''), sometimes also referred to as the Cantabrian and Asturian Wars (''Bellum Cantabricum et Asturicum''), were the final stage of the two-century long Roman conquest of Hispania, in what to ...

. Subsequently, it was one of the first areas to be repopulated from the third century onwards, Brañosera being considered the first town council in Spain. In the 19th century, the first coal deposits of the Palencia mining basin were discovered in the Rubagón basin, between Barruelo and Orbó, which marked the economy and demography of the area.

References

{{coord, 42.8225, -4.2027, format=dms, type:river_region:ES, display=inline,title Palencia Rivers of Spain Rivers of Palencia