Imperial Canal of Aragon | |
---|---|
Location | Spain |
Coordinates | 42°01′35″N 1°33′37″W / 42.026264°N 1.560233°W |
Type | Ebro Basin |
Part of | Bocal de Fontellas, Navarre |
Primary outflows | Fuentes de Ebro, Aragon |
Max. length | 110 km (68 mi) |
The Imperial Canal of Aragon (Canal Imperial de Aragón) is a 110-kilometre (68 mi) zanja and navigation canal built from 1776 to 1790 between Fontellas (Navarre) and Fuentes de Ebro (Aragón). Its construction was intended to improve the irrigation of the old Acequia Imperial de Aragón, bringing water from the Ebro River to Zaragoza and allowing the irrigation system to be extended in the region. It also established a passenger and freight transport service between Tudela and Zaragoza.[1]
The plan was designed during the Enlightenment to build canals in Spain along the lines of England and France. The canal projected in the 18th century had two aspirations:[1]
Only a part of the entire project was carried out, with substantial investments and additional works.[1]
The Imperial Canal of Aragon was a hydraulic work of the first order in its time. Emperor Charles I promoted its creation and Juan Cabrero, Archdeacon of Zaragoza, had given 2000 ducats to begin its construction, from Gallur, in May 1528. In 1771 the Council of Castile, presided over by the Count of Aranda, created the position of protector with powers to make all kinds of reforms necessary for the achievement of the enterprise, appointing his brother-in-law Ramón Pignatelli to occupy it. In 1776 the works were resumed with a new rhythm and a new construction plan was approved.[1] It had three objectives: irrigation supply, source of energy and means of communication.[2]
He materially built the channel and the civil works (1776-1790), overcoming all kinds of obstacles such as the El Bocal weir, the great Acueducto del Jalón, the channel to Zaragoza, a multitude of bridges and beacons, the Casablanca locks and mill, the Ojo del Canal, the Acueducto del Barranco de la Muerte, the Valdegurriana locks and another set of locks for downstream navigation. He also built the institution's offices in Zaragoza, in what is known as Casa del Canal.[2]
He organized the navigation through it (1789) within a plan of integral navigation of the Ebro to communicate the Cantabrian and Mediterranean seas. He conditioned and included in the enterprise the Tauste Canal (1781).[2]
On August 15, 1790, the 110 km Imperial Canal of Aragon was completed after laying the last stone of the El Bocal dam, in Navarre.[2]
With a total gradient of 125 meters over its entire 110 km length, the slope of the Canal is only 80 cm/km (0.08%), which makes navigation in both directions possible.[3]
Three groups of locks were built on the Canal, which are located in the municipality of Zaragoza, where the Canal has a gradient of 30 meters:[3]
In 1782, the works of the Imperial Canal of Aragon reached Zaragoza, the waters of the Ebro crossed the Jalón River, the bridge over the Huerva River, and the so-called locks of San Carlos were built.[1]
The water reached Zaragoza on June 24, 1784, through a wooden canal and finally on October 14 of the same year, the architect of the work arrived in Zaragoza on board a barge, received by the people and authorities with joy.[1]
The main works lasted two more years, so that on November 30, 1786, the Port of Casablanca was inaugurated, which included two locks for the passage of ships and a flour mill. The following day the Port of Torrero was inaugurated. A few days later, the first fountain ordered by Pignatelli was installed as proof of the arrival of water to Zaragoza, hence its inscription:[1]
Incredulorum convictioni et viatorum commodo. Anno MDCCLXXXVI[1] (English: To convince unbelievers and to bring rest to travelers. Year 1786)
The main consequence of bringing water to Zaragoza through the Imperial Canal was an agrarian reform also carried out by Pignatelli. Its social impact was produced thanks to the extension of the irrigation extension that allowed everyone to ensure and regularize harvests avoiding subsistence or food crises, very common at the time. It also made it possible to cultivate and distribute uncultivated land.[2]
Aware of the poverty of the peasantry, he conceived a great enterprise similar to those undertaken in France, Holland and England: a canal linking the Cantabrian Sea with the Mediterranean, an old Aragonese dream, to export their livestock and fruit and vegetable products. So that, in addition to serving as a commercial and postal communication because it would be navigable, with its abundant flow it would supply irrigation to fertile but dry lands, which would be bought at low prices by the less favored classes for whom the project was really intended. His political and social thinking was tinged with a radical reformism tending to favor the farmer over the privileged.[2]
The need to irrigate all the land (from 1782) and to change and effectively collect the contribution for irrigation (from 1788), key points of the agrarian reform undertaken, led him to litigate with nobles such as the Marquis of Ayerbe, the Duke of Villahermosa, with the same chapter to which he belonged and the dreaded Ranchers' House of Zaragoza, which was a stronghold of the cattle oligarchy. The large landowners found it more profitable to leave certain lands uncultivated and use them for extensive grazing of their cattle.[2]
The Imperial Canal of Aragon runs for 110 km between Fontellas (Navarre) and Fuentes de Ebro (Zaragoza).[6]
Since 1818, the offices were located in the so-called Casa del Canal, in the Plaza de Santa Cruz in Zaragoza.[7]
Currently the offices of the General Community of Users of the Imperial Canal of Aragon are located at number 1, Avenida de America in Zaragoza. The building contains the archives and library of the institution, with interesting collections of the eighteenth century.
The irrigation of the canal is divided into three zones composed of the following communities:
The canal is currently managed by the Confederación Hidrográfica del Ebro, which in turn is an autonomous agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Environment.[8]