Canal de Castilla
The Canal of Castile is a canal in the north of Spain. 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, Palencia and Valladolid, in the Autonomous Community of Castile and León.
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 in 1991.
History
The canal was planned by the Marques de la Ensenada during Fernando VI'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, budgetary constraints and the difficult passage through the Cantabrian Mountains hampered and eventually reduced the initial plan of a 400 km canal, so the canal never reached the Bay of Biscay as initially planned. Overall, its construction took almost 100 years and was eventually halted when History of [rail transport in Spain#Development|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 barges 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. 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 at the town of Alar del Rey 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 Areas have been designated. These are notable for birds such as great bustards, residents of dryland farming areas which are typical of the region. The canal, on the other hand, provides valuable habitats for wetland birds such as the bittern.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.
- a number of wetlands protected as Lagunas del Canal de Castilla. This multi-site protected area has been designated as a Special Area of Conservation and as a Special Protection Area.
Birds of interest to the project include:
- the aquatic warbler. This species, Europe's most endangered songbird, uses Spain as a migration route.
- the bittern.