The Saja is a river in the autonomous community 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 ...
, northern
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 flows into the
Cantabric sea
The Cantabrian Sea is the term used mostly in Spain to describe the coastal sea of the Atlantic Ocean that borders the northern coast of Spain and the southwest side of the Atlantic coast of France, included in the Bay of Biscay. It extends from ...
. Part of its course is inside the
Saja-Besaya Natural Park
The Saja's source is at 1,700 meters above sea level and it flows rapidly through a steep V-shaped basin during the first kilometers. Past the village of
Fresneda the valley starts to open up and it develops a wide
alluvial plain
An alluvial plain is a plain (an essentially flat landform) created by the deposition of sediment over a long period by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A ''floodplain'' is part of the process, bei ...
in the Cabuerniga valley.
Regarding the ecologic conservation of the river, it is good from the source to the Santa LucĂa bridge, from when it begins to show important alterations, and being catalogued as moderately conserved. Down the confluence with the
Besaya the alterations are already serious or very serious, being catalogued as badly conserved.
Study on the waters of the Saja
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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 ...
References
Rivers of Spain
Rivers of Cantabria
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