Produced by Chuck Greif, Michigan University Library and
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[Illustration: SPAIN
Edwd Weller]
London, Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington.]
SPAIN
BY THE
REV. WENTWORTH WEBSTER, M.A. OXON.
WITH A CHAPTER BY AN ASSOCIATE OF THE SCHOOL OF MINES.
_WITH ILLUSTRATIONS._
London:
SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON,
CROWN BUILDINGS, 188, FLEET STREET.
1882.
[_All rights reserved._]
LONDON:
PRINTED BY GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, LIMITED,
ST. JOHN'S SQUARE.
[etext transcriber's note:
No attempt has been made to correct, normalize or de-anglicize
the spelling of Spanish names or words.]
PREFACE.
There is a difficulty in writing a book of this character on Spain,
which does not exist, we think, to the same extent with any other
European country. In most European nations the official returns and
government reports may be accepted as trustworthy, and the compiler has
little more to do than to copy them; but in Spain this is far from being
always the case. In some instances, from nonchalance and habitual
inexactitude, in others, and especially in all matters of finance and
taxation, from designed misstatement, all such reports have to be
received with caution and scrupulously examined. The reader must
remember also that in Spain smuggling and contraband dealing in various
forms is carried on to such a vast extent as seriously to vitiate all
trade returns. Thus it is that Spanish statistics can be considered
only as approximate truths.
Another difficulty arises from the very varied character of the Spanish
provinces. Hardly any statement can be made of one province which is not
untrue of another. The ordinary descriptions of Spain present only one,
or at most two, types, the Castling and Andalusian, and utterly neglect
all the rest. The provinces of Spain have been well described as divided
into "five Irelands" whose habits and modes of thought, political
aspirations, and commercial interests and aptitudes, are often utterly
opposed to those of the capital. A brief survey of the whole of Spain is
attempted in the following pages.
In a work of this kind one other obvious difficulty is to know what to
omit. Some well-worn topics will be found to be absent from these pages.
No references are made to the great Peninsular War. This can be easily
studied in the admirable pages of Sir W. Napier in English, and of
Toreno in Spanish, or in compendiums of these, which again are filtered
down in every guide-book. For a like reason Prescott's brilliant works
are not alluded to.
For the chapter on Geology and Mining the reader is indebted to one of
the most distinguished Associates of the School of Mines, who has been
recently engaged in practical geological survey and mapping in Spain.
Much also of the present work is due to private information most kindly
furnished by Spanish friends of high position in the literary and
political world, and with whom some of the subjects treated have been
frequently discussed. To these the author offers his warmest and most
grateful thanks.
ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
THE GEOGRAPHY OF SPAIN.
PAGE
Boundaries of the Peninsula 1
Area and Coast-line 2
Six divisions of Spain _ib._
_Mountain chains_:
Pyrenees 3
Cantabrian, Asturian, and Galician mountains 4
Leon _ib._
Oca, Sierra Moncayo, and Idubeda chains 5
Central Plateau and its passes _ib._
Culminating water-shed of the Peninsula 6
Guadarrama range _ib._
Toledan range 7
Sierra Morena and passes _ib._
Central ranges and river basins 8
Sierra Nevada and offshoots _ib._
Minor ranges 9
_Rivers, river basins, and rainfall_:
Five great rivers 10
Rivers of Galicia and Asturias 11
Basque Provinces 12
Ebro and its tributaries and canals 12
Catalonia, streams of 14
Douro and its tributaries 15
Tagus " " 17
Guadiana " " and lakes 19
Guadalquiver, its tributaries, islands, and marismas 22
Segura and its irrigation 24
Jucar " " 25
Guadalaviar or Turia _ib._
Lakes and Albuferas 26
Water toponymy 27
Comparative table of principal rivers 28
Mineral springs and Salinas _ib._
CHAPTER II.
CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS.
Five climates of Spain 30
Temperature and rainfall of:
Galicia and the Asturias 31
Santander and the Basque Provinces 32
Aragon _ib._
Catalonia _ib._
Valencia 34
Alicante _ib._
Murcia 35
Cartagena to Almeria _ib._
Malaga, Motril, Seville, and Cordova _ib._
Granada 36
Cadiz, Gibraltar, &c _ib._
Elevation of Central Plateau _ib._
Temperature and rainfall of Madrid, Salamanca, and Soria 38
Agricultural products of:
Galicia and the Asturias 39
Basque Provinces and basin of the Ebro 40
Moorish agriculture and exotic flora of Southern Spain 41
Products of Valencia and Murcia 43
Palms at Elche 44
Aromatic mountain shrubs 45
Products and wines of Andalusia 46
Products of the Central Plateau _ib._
Estremadura and law of the Mesta 47
Locusts 48
Corn-lands of Castile and Sierras de Campos 50
Comparative Flora of Spain 52
_Fauna_:
Monkeys of Gibraltar _ib._
Beasts and birds of prey _ib._
Game birds and African visitants _ib._
Noxious and useful insects _ib._
Merino sheep 54
Horses, cattle, and beasts of burden 55
Fisheries 56
Estimated total production of Spain 57
CHAPTER III.
GEOLOGY AND MINES.
Peculiar interest of Spanish geology 58
Granite and Silurian rocks _ib._
Carboniferous formation 59
Secondary formations _ib._
Upper Cretaceous _ib._
Eocene tertiary 60
Miocene fresh-water _ib._
Pliocene _ib._
Influence of geology on populations _ib._
Statistics of Spanish geology 61
Volcanoes, recent _ib._
_Minerals of_:
Gneiss and crystalline schists 62
Metamorphic rocks _ib._
Cambrian formation _ib._
Silurian slates _ib._
Devonian sandstones _ib._
Carboniferous series _ib._
Permian 63
Triassic conglomerates _ib._
Jurassic limestones and marl _ib._
Cretaceous formation _ib._
Eocene, Miocene, and Pliocene _ib._
Production and export of six chief minerals _ib._
Of argentiferous ore, cobalt, silver _ib._
Coal 65
Iron of the Bilbao district _ib._
Locality of principal mines 66
Mining laws 67
CHAPTER IV.
ETHNOLOGY, LANGUAGE, AND POPULATION.
Pyrenees, no true boundary of 69
Population of Spain, mixed 70
Iberi, Kelt-Iberi, Basques, and Kelts _ib._
Foreign races in Spain 73
Visigoths, Arabs, and Moors 75
Toponymy of Spain 76
Language of Spanish Jews 77
Existing dialects _ib._
Statistics of the Spanish language 78
Characteristics of " " 79
Population of Spain 80
Density of _ib._
Occupations of 81
Manufacturing and mining Provinces 82
Clergy _ib._
Distribution of property, great changes in 83
Abolition of Mesta and of feudal privileges _ib._
Sale of Crown and Church property 84
Actual distribution _ib._
Characteristics of the various populations 85
Galicians, Asturians, Basques, and Aragonese 86
Catalans, Valencians, and Murcians 86, 87
Andalusians 87
Manchegans, and Castilians 89
Gipsies, Maragatos, Passiegos, Hurdes, Sayagos, &c. 90
Contrabandistas _ib._
CHAPTER V.
DESCRIPTION OF PROVINCES.
Division of Kingdoms and Provinces 91
Galicia and its provinces, Corunna, Lugo, Pontevedra,
and Orense 92
Asturias 94
Santander _ib._
Basque Provinces, Biscay, Guipuzcoa, Alava 95
Navarre 96
Aragon and its provinces, Huesca, Saragossa, Teruel 97
Catalonia " Gerona, Barcelona, Tarragona, Lerida 100
Valencia " Castellon de la Plana, Valencia,
Alicante 103
Murcia " Murcia and Albacete 107
Andalusia, Mediterranean Provinces, Almeria, Granada,
Malaga 109
Atlantic: Cadiz, Huelva 117, 122
Inland: Seville, Cordova, Jaen 120, 123, 125
Estremadura, Badajoz, Caceres _ib._
New Castile and La Mancha, Provinces--Ciud ad Real,
Toledo, Madrid, Cuenca, Guadalajara 127
Old Castile--Avila, Segovia, Soria, Logrono, Burgos 133
Leon--Salamanca, Valladolid, Zamora, Palencia, Leon 137
Balearic Isles 141
CHAPTER VI.
HISTORY AND POLITICAL CONSTITUTION.
Early liberties, _behetria_, _fueros_ 145
Capitulations of Moors and Jews 147
Conquest of the South and its results 149
The _Santa Hermandad_ _ib._
The Austrian Dynasty 151
The Bourbon Dynasty 152
Modern Constitutional Spain 153
Cortes of Cadiz _ib._
Reign of Ferdinand VII., and loss of American colonies_ib._
" Isabella II. 154
First Carlist War _ib._
Ministry of Narvaez 156
" O'Donnell 157
Expulsion of Isabella II., and provisional government _ib._
Amadeo I. 158
Republic _ib._
Second Carlist War 159
Cantonalist insurrection _ib._
Alphonso XII. 160
Ministry of Canovas del Castillo 161
_Present Constitution and Administration of Spain_ 162
Cortes, Senate, Congress 163
Provincial administration 164
Municipal " _ib._
Religion 165
Rights of persons, natives and foreigners _ib._
_Military Administration_ 166
Army 167
Quality of Spanish soldiery, _pronunciamientos_,
&c. 168
_Naval Administration_ 169
Royal Navy _ib._
Mercantile Navy _ib._
_Judicial Administration_ 169
Legal Procedure 170
Prisons _ib._
Hospitals and lunatic asylums 171
Railways 172
Telegraphs _ib._
Letters and post _ib._
_Finances of Spain._
Public debt 174
Increase of, since 1868 175
Deficit of budgets _ib._
Sources of revenue 176
Expenditure _ib._
Imports and exports 177
Foreign tariffs _ib._
Protection and free trade 178
Empleomania and its results 179
CHAPTER VII.
EDUCATION AND RELIGION.
Universities, number of students, salaries of
professors 181
Theological seminaries 182
Course of university study 183
Provincial and special institutes _ib._
Secondary instruction, institutes and colleges 184
Number of students, and salary of masters 185
Course of instruction 186
University degrees _ib._
Primary education 187
_Church and Religion._
Early Church Councils 188
Roman and Mazarabic liturgy _ib._
Inquisition _ib._
Philip II., the Jesuits, and the Reformation 189
Expulsion of the Jesuits 191
Concordat of 1851 _ib._
Archbishops, bishops, and clergy _ib._
Mode of appointment of bishops 192
Spanish Protestants _ib._
CHAPTER VIII.
LITERATURE AND THE ARTS.
Praehistoric art and architecture 194
Roman and Visigothic _ib._
Arabic 195
Three periods of 196
Mudejar 201
Christian _ib._
Renaissance 202
Churrigueresque 203
Domestic architecture _ib._
Church furniture and minor arts 204
_Painting._
Characteristics of Spanish painting 205
Local schools 206
Murillo 208
Painters of Valencian school 209
" " Castilian " _ib._
" " Andalusian " _ib._
Modern painters 210
Industrial arts, goldsmith's work, iron, porcelain,
glass, wood, lace 212
Music _ib._
_Literature._
Early Romances 213
" Prose works 214
La Celistina and the _picaresque_ novels 215
Drama and _Autors_ 216
Lope de Vega _ib._
Calderon de la Barca 217
Cervantes _ib._
Quevedo 219
Historical writings 220
Poetry _ib._
Mystic writers 222
Classical and romantic schools _ib._
Modern writers: Poets--Espronceda, Zorilla, Becquer,
&c. 224
Novelists--Fernan Caballero, J. Valera, &c. _ib._
Dramatists--Hartzenbusch, Breton de los Herreros, &c. 225
Nunez de Arce 226
Historians--Conde Gayangos, De la Fuente, &c. _ib._
Geographers--Fernandez Guerra, Coello, Bowles _ib._
Geologists--Macpherson, &c. _ib._
Economists--Cardenas, Colmeiro, De Azcarate 227
Theologians--Balmes, Donoso Cortez, C. Gonzalez, &c. _ib._
Philologists--F. Fita, &c. _ib._
Orators 228
Provincial literature 229
CHAPTER IX.
EPILOGUE.
Spain not a worn-out country 231
Two hindrances to development _ib._
Protection and free trade 233
Cruelty and charities of Spain 234
Appendix I.--Census of Provinces 237
" II.--Chief historical events 239
" III.--Chief books used 241
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
Caballeros 86
Dominique, the Espada 88
Gipsies at Granada 90
Leaning Tower of Saragossa 98
General View of Granada, with the Alhambra 110
Alhambra Tower by Moonlight 114
Fountain of the Four Seasons, Madrid 130
Port of Cadiz 153
Vespers 190
Giralda of Seville 197
Moorish Ornamentation 199
[Illustration:
PHYSICAL MAP
of
SPAIN
Edwd Weller
London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington.]
SPAIN.
CHAPTER I.
THE GEOGRAPHY OF SPAIN.
Spain, with the neighbouring kingdom of Portugal, constitutes the most
westerly of the three southern peninsulas of Europe, and in Cape Tarifa,
latitude 36 deg. 1', it attains the most southerly point of the whole
continent. Separated from France and from the rest of Europe by the
chain of the Pyrenees, and surrounded on all other sides by either the
Mediterranean or the Atlantic, it presents at first sight the appearance
of an exceedingly compact and homogeneous surface. It seems strange that
this well-defined peninsula should contain two separate kingdoms, with
peoples who speak languages allied, yet so distinct as to be mutually
unintelligible to the uneducated classes.
The peninsula lies between latitude 43 deg. 45' and 36 deg. 1' N., and between
3 deg. 20' E. and 9 deg. 32' W. longitude. In shape it is thus nearly a square;
a diagonal line from the N.E. Cape Creuz to the S.W. Cape St. Vincent
measures 650 miles, while from Cape Ortegal, N.W., to Cape Gata, S.E.,
would be 525 miles. The whole area of the peninsula contains 219,200
square miles, of which 36,500 on the west belong to Portugal, and
182,700 to Spain.
The peninsular form of the country would lead us to expect that it would
partake of all the characteristics of a maritime climate; but such is
not the case. From the comparative evenness of the coast-line, unbroken
and unindented by any deep inlets except on the extreme north-west, in
Galicia, the coast-line bears a less proportion to the whole surface
than that of many lands less surrounded by the sea. It counts only 1300
miles, 700 of which are washed by the Mediterranean, and 600 by the
Atlantic; that is, 1 mile of coast-line to 134 square miles of area;
while Italy contains 1 to 75, and Greece 1 to 7. From the configuration
of the coast, and from the character of the great central plateau, a
large part of Spain has really an extreme continental climate.
For while it is distinctly separated from the rest of Europe by the line
of the Pyrenees, Spain is no less distinctly divided into different
districts in the interior--districts which differ most widely in climate
and elevation and products. Six of these are usually named: (1) The N.W.
Atlantic coast, comprising Galicia, the coast of which presents a
continuation of the Fiord system of Norway, and of the Firths of
Scotland and Ireland; (2), the northern slope of the Cantabrian
Mountains, and the narrow slip of land contained between them and the
Bay of Biscay, comprising the Asturias, Santander, and the Basque
Provinces; (3) the Valley of the Ebro, with Navarre, Aragon, and
Catalonia; (4) the great Central Plateau--Leon, Old and New Castile,
Estremadura, and La Mancha; (5) the Mediterranean Provinces, including
Valencia, Murcia, and the parts of Andalusia between the Sierra Nevada
and the Mediterranean; (6) the rest of Andalusia sloping towards the
Atlantic.
We will treat of these in order.
_Mountain Chains._
But first we must speak of the various mountain systems and river basins
of Spain, without which it is impossible to understand either the
physical conditions of the country, or the social and political state of
the various populations which has resulted from them.
First, on the north is the chain of the Pyrenees, a continuation of the
great Alpine system of Central Europe, stretching from Cape Creuz, 3 deg.
19' E., to the Bay of Biscay, 2 deg. 12' W., a distance of 320 miles, and
prolonging itself westward in lower chains of different denominations
until it finally sinks into the Atlantic at Cape Finisterre. The
culminating points of the Pyrenees are towards the centre of the chain,
in Mounts Maladetta, 11,150 feet, and the Pic de Posets and the Mount
Perdu, each about 11,000 feet, whence the heights gradually descend, on
the east to the Mediterranean and on the west to the Bay of Biscay. With
the exception of the little Bidassoa, which in the lower part of its
course forms the boundary between France and Spain, at the bottom of the
Bay of Biscay, all the other waters of the Spanish side of the Pyrenees
belong to the Ebro and to the Mediterranean. Parallel to the coast of
the Bay of Biscay the Pyrenees are prolonged, first, by the Cantabrian
Mountains, which run through the Basque Provinces, and the Province of
Santandar; thence by the Picos de Europa, 8300 feet--from the
south-eastern spurs of which the Ebro and Pisuerga take their rise--and
the Asturian Mountains, to the Sierra de Penamarella, at the junction of
the three Provinces of Leon, Asturias, and Galicia. The chain here
attains its greatest elevation, 9450 (?) feet, then descends to a
plateau of about 4000 feet, whence it sinks rapidly to the Atlantic,
forming the headlands of Ortegal, the extreme north-western, and of
Finisterre, the extreme western, point of Northern Spain. The mountains
of Leon form the western watershed, between the waters of the Ebro and
those which fall into the Atlantic. The line is continued eastward by
the Oca Mountains, the Sierra de Moncayo, and the Idubeda Mountains.
These mountain chains divide the basin of the Ebro from that of the
Douro. They also form the northern buttress of the great plateau of
Central Spain, which attains an elevation of from 2000 to 4000 feet. The
rise to the plateau from the Bay of Biscay is very abrupt. Within fifty
miles of leaving the coast the railways from the north attain a height
of 2000 feet, and reach the Central Plateau, at Quintanapalla, at an
elevation of 3000 feet; while La Canada, the highest point on the line
to Madrid, is nearly 4460 feet, or about sixty feet higher than the
tunnel of the Mount Cenis. From the eastern side the rise is less
abrupt, and the plateau is entered at the lower elevation of 2330 feet,
on the line from Alicante to Madrid. The famous Pass of Somosierra, on
the old northern coach-road from Madrid, is about 4700 feet above the
level of the sea. From these figures it is easy to perceive how very
different is the aspect of these buttress chains when seen from the
plateau, and when looked at from the plain from which they rise. Thus
the Sierra de Moncayo, 7700 feet, stands out with boldness from the
Valley of the Ebro, but viewed from the plateau of Castile it is
scarcely noticeable. From its summit, however, the finest view of the
whole range of the Pyrenees to be found anywhere on the Spanish side of
the chain, is to be obtained.
Turning thence towards the south and south-east, these mountain
chains--under the various names of the Sierras de Cuenca, de Molina, and
Albarracin--divide the river basins of the Mediterranean from the far
larger ones of the Atlantic. They have their culminating point in the
Muela de San Juan and the Cerro de San Felipe, nearly 6000 feet, at the
junction of the three provinces of Teruel, Cuenca, and Guadalaxara. From
the sides of these mountains the waters fall with rapid course, on the
north to join the Ebro, on the east and south to the Mediterranean;
while with gentler slope, but in far greater volume, the Douro, the
Tagus, and the Guadiana roll their waters to the Atlantic. From these
Sierras the plateau tilts gradually westward and southward, but is
intersected by mountain chains, peaks of which towards the west attain a
higher elevation than those which form the real culmination of this part
of the peninsula. The bare and bleak granite range of the Guadarrama,
which divides the basin of the Douro from that of the Tagus, and from
whose summits steals the icy wind so fatal to Madrid, attains in its
highest summit, Pena Lara, 7800 feet, near Segovia; while in its western
prolongation, the Sierras de Credos and de Gata, the Plaza del Moro
reaches 8700 feet. The chains which divide the valley of the Tagus from
that of the Guadiana are not nearly so well marked as are those more to
the north, and rise to a much less elevation above the plateau.
Beginning with a south-westerly prolongation of the Cerro de San Felipe,
under the successive titles of Montes de Toledo, Sierras de Guadaloupe,
Montanchez, and San Mamed, about 2000 feet, they reach the Portuguese
frontier near Portalegre. The highest point seems to be in the mountains
of Toledo at Villuercas, where a height of a little over 5000 feet is
attained. The mountains which separate the basins of the Guadiana and
the Guadalquiver, under the names of the Sierras de Alcaroz, Morena, de
Cordova, Guadacanal, and Aroche, and which form the southern buttress of
the central plateau, present a still greater difference than those of
the northern buttress when viewed from the plateau and from the plains
of Andalusia. From the former they appear only rolling undulations, and
the traveller scarcely notices the rise till he finds himself descending
one of the steep and savage gorges, like that of the Pass of
Despena-Perroz, on the road and rail between La Mancha and Andalusia.
The Col of Despena-Perroz is nearly 2500 feet above the sea, and but few
summits along the ranges of the Sierra Morena and its prolongations
attain a greater elevation, the general range being about 2000 feet,
except towards the west and north of Seville, where the Sierra de
Aracena reaches 5550 feet. Eastward of the Guadalquiver the ranges which
divide its waters from those of the Segura, the Sierras de Segura, and
Sagra, attain a greater height, the former 6500 feet, the latter to 7800
feet.
Thus as supports to the great plateau, or on it, we have the following
successive ranges as we proceed from north to south. First, the Sierra
de Moncayo and the Idubeda mountains, dividing the basin of the Ebro
from that of the Douro; next the Guadarrama chain, with the Sierras de
Credos and de Gata, separating the Douro from the Tagus; then the
Mountains of Toledo, and the Sierra de San Mamed, between the Tagus and
the Guadiana; and lastly, the southern buttress, the Sierra Morena,
dividing the Guadiana from the Guadalquiver.
But it is south of the last stream that the culminating points of the
whole peninsula are to be found--in the mighty Sierra Nevada, which
separates the lovely valley of Granada from the Mediterranean, shielding
it from the scorching winds of Africa, and giving it its eternal
freshness and verdure. The highest of its summits are Muley Hacen and
Velate, lying to the south-east of Granada, the former attaining nearly
11,670 feet, and the latter 11,400. The altitudes diminish rapidly east
and west. Towards the east, outlying ranges, such as those of the
Sierras de Filabres and of Gador, attain heights of 6000 and 7000 feet
respectively; while in the westward prolongations, the Mesa de Ronda is
only 5000; and the chain gradually drops till it reaches the sea at Cape
Trafalgar, and the rock of Gibraltar, 1400 feet.
But besides these greater chains of mountains Spain is traversed by
numerous offshoots and lateral ranges, and a great portion of her
territory is more or less of a mountainous character. In districts where
rain is unfrequent these hills are absolutely bare of verdure for a
great part of the year, and remain untenanted and uncultivated. Among
the more elevated of these lesser chains are those of Monseni,
Monserrat, and Montagut, in Catalonia, which attain respectively 5500,
4000, and 3000 feet in height. On the borders of Leon and Galicia, and
in the latter province, there are numerous mountains and smaller ranges,
which vary from 3000 to 5000 feet. The whole frontier of Portugal is
covered by lower ranges, connecting the great chains of which we have
already spoken with hills of from 2000 to 3000 feet. From the great
eastern buttress two spurs, or rolling plateaux, run down to the
Mediterranean, and terminate in the different headlands--such as Cape
Gata in the south-east, Cape Palos near Carthagena, Capes de la Nao and
San Antonio near Denia, Peniscola, and others. Some of these smaller
ranges are exceedingly rich in minerals, and as they approach the sea
form sites of picturesque and enchanting beauty, such as can be
surpassed only by the better-known and historic glories of the coasts of
Italy or of Greece.
_Rivers of Spain._
Of the five great rivers of Spain only one, the Ebro, pours its waters
into the Mediterranean; the other four, the Douro, Tagus, Guadiana, and
Guadalquiver, discharge theirs into the Atlantic; but of these last the
Guadalquiver alone is wholly a Spanish stream. In the lower and more
valuable part of their course the Douro, Tagus, and Gaudiana, belong to
Portugal--a fact which must always be remembered when treating of the
internal commerce of Spain. But besides these larger streams there are
several of slightly smaller dimensions, of which we will treat in order.
Few countries present within so short a distance so great a difference
in rainfall and moisture as does Spain. In some parts of the Asturias
and Galicia the rainfall is probably as heavy as that of any part of
Europe--as much as 147-1/2 inches are said to have been measured in a
single year; and the average fall on the northern slopes of the
Cantabrian mountains is said to be sixty inches annually. Yet the
average of the whole basin of the Ebro--which rises from the southern
slopes of the Picos de Europa, one of the most rainy of the rainy
districts--is only eighteen inches annually, the last 300 miles of its
course being through almost barren districts, where rain seldom falls.
The principal river of Galicia is the Minho, with its tributary the Sil.
Each of these rises, though at some distance apart, from the southern
side of the Cantabrian mountains, much nearer to the waters of the Bay
of Biscay than to those of the Atlantic, into which they flow. They take
thence a southerly and south-westerly course, until they unite a few
miles above Orense. The lower part of the united course, which bears the
name of the Minho, forms from Melgaco to the sea the frontier between
the kingdoms of Portugal and Spain. The remaining rivers of Galicia are
numerous but of little importance: the Tambre is the largest of those
which fall into the Atlantic on the west; while on the north the sources
of the Eo and the Navia overlap those of the Minho, and take their rise
from the mountains which border on Leon. The whole country is
exceedingly well watered. Both in its agricultural character as a
grazing country, and in its flora and fauna, it resembles the milder
portions of southern Ireland and of Devonshire, but with occasional
products of a warmer zone. The rivers of the Asturias, Santander, and of
the Basque provinces, all partake of the same general character. In the
upper part of their courses they are mere mountain torrents, their
course is rapid but short, and they are of but little use for
navigation, though occasionally small but insecure harbours are formed
at their mouth. The only great exception to this is the Nervion, on
which Bilbao is situated, and which is navigable for eight miles from
its mouth. The waters of the Bidassoa, the Deva, and others, are,
however, utilized for the transport of ore from the mines and ironworks
along the course. The Bidassoa, for some ten miles before it enters the
Bay of Biscay at Cape Figueras forms the boundary between France and
Spain; about four miles from its issue, between Irun and Behobie, is the
celebrated Isle des Faisans, where, in 1659, the marriage was arranged
between Louis XIV. and the Infanta, which eventually placed the Bourbons
on the throne of Spain. The Bidassoa is the last of the northern rivers
of Spain which falls into the Atlantic.
The Ebro has its rise from the source, Fontibre, in the province of
Santander, and takes a south-easterly course of 466 miles, through the
provinces of Santander, Burgos, Navarre, and Aragon, almost parallel
with the Pyrenees, till it falls into the Mediterranean, through a sandy
delta stretching some fifteen miles into the sea below Amposta. The
descent for the first 200 miles of its course is exceedingly rapid, but
after that the fall is gradual till it reaches the sea. In its course
it receives the waters of many tributaries, both on the left from the
Pyrenees, and on the right from the Idubeda mountains and the sierras of
Southern Aragon. Were it not for these tributaries little of its waters
would reach the Mediterranean, so dry and arid are the Bardenas of
Navarre, and the Dehesas of Aragon, through which it flows. The
Spaniards have a proverb that it is the Navarrese and Aragonese
streams--the Arga, the Ega, and the Aragon--which make a man of the
Ebro. Farther down, the Gallego runs in near Saragossa; while the united
waters of the Cinca and the Segre at Mequinenza pour a far larger volume
of water into the parent bed than it contains itself. From the right,
the principal streams are the Xalon, with its tributary the Xiloca,
which joins the Ebro between Tudela and Saragossa, the Marten, and the
Guadalope near Caspe. The Ebro, notwithstanding its length, the number
of its tributaries, and the extent of its basin, 25,000 square miles, is
of little use for navigation. A magnificent canal--first projected and
commenced by the Emperor Charles V. (I. of Spain) then after a lapse of
more than two centuries taken in hand by Charles III., in 1770--runs
from Tudela to Saragossa; thence to the sea it still remains in project
only. The part already finished is falling into decay; and it is only
the excellent quality of the masonry, and of the cement or mortar
employed, that retards its utter ruin. The traffic is very small; and
even as a means of irrigation its waters are allowed greatly to run to
waste. At the apex of the delta from Amposta to San Carlos de la Rapita
a canal of eight miles has been cut for purposes of navigation; but the
formation of a bar, and the silting up of the bay, have rendered it
almost useless. The other rivers which flow into the Mediterranean,
between the lower course of the Ebro and the Pyrenees are the Fluvia,
which flows into the gulf of Rosas, the Ter, which passes by Gerona, and
the Llobregat near Barcelona. All are torrential streams, unfit for
navigation; but their waters, if all utilized for irrigation like those
of the Llobregat, would be sources of immense wealth to the country.
From the fact that the lower part of the course of the great rivers of
the plateau--the Douro, the Tagus, and the Guadiana--flow through
Portugal, their streams are hardly at all available as a means of
communication or of navigation for Spain; and from the nature of the
deeply cut beds which the waters have worn through the soil, flowing,
especially as they approach the frontiers of Portugal, through gorges
approaching in length and depth the canons of North America, the rivers
are little available for irrigation, although far more use might be made
of them for this purpose than is actually done. Owing to the prejudices
of the Spanish husbandman, and to his reluctance to accept any change,
however profitable, in his ancient routine, neither the little that has
been done in the present century, nor the remains of a wiser agriculture
in former times are used by the peasantry. In the province of Zamora,
for instance, both the ancient "acequias" and the modern canal of the
Esla are equally neglected. The rich results that have followed the
employment of the waters in the few cases in which they have been
intelligently directed, stirs no one up to follow the example. It is one
of the many contrasts between different parts of Spain, that the value
of irrigation should be so well understood in some parts and so utterly
neglected and under-valued in others. But we shall have more to say of
this when we treat of the eastern and southern streams: at present let
us return to the Douro, and to the other rivers of the plateau.
The Douro takes its rise in the Lago Negro, or Black Lake, on the
southern flanks of the Mount Urbion, in the north-western angle of the
province of Soria. It first runs eastward to the city of that name, the
ancient Numantia, then turns almost directly south as far as Almazan,
whence it runs westward to Portugal, receiving meanwhile the waters of
the Esla, below Zamora; at the frontier, again it turns south, through
deep gorges which form the boundary between Spain and Portugal, until
it receives the waters of the Agueda, where it finally enters Portugal,
and after a westerly course thence of about 100 miles, falls into the
Atlantic below Oporto.
The basin drained by the Douro is the most extensive of all those of the
rivers in Spain. Including the portion in Portugal, it comprises 35,000
square miles; the length of the river is about 500 miles; the average
rainfall is stated at twenty inches. The chief affluents of the Douro
descend from the north from the mountains of Burgos and the Cantabrian
range. The largest are the Pisuerga, which rises not far from the
sources of the Ebro among the Picos de Europa, and flows almost directly
south by Palencia and Valladolid until it joins the Douro, some miles
above Tordesilla; the Esla, which also rises from the western flanks of
the same chain, not far from Covadonga, takes a somewhat more westerly
direction, and after receiving several smaller streams unites with the
Douro below Zamora. These two rivers supply water for two of the most
successful canals in Spain, especially that along the Pisuerga, for over
ninety miles from Alar del Rey to Valladolid. There is a considerable
traffic on it, especially for passengers. It was planned in 1753 by
Ensenada, but completed only in 1832. The canal of the Esla, for
purposes of irrigation, begun by English engineers in 1864, and
finished in 1869, has hardly been so successful. The latest report
(June, 1880) states that the peasant proprietors, notwithstanding
examples of the great utility of irrigation, obstinately refuse to use
it. The principal affluents of the Douro on the west and south are the
Tormes, which flows by Salamanca, and joins it about midway in its
course as a frontier of Portugal; and the Agueda, which runs in just
where it takes its final departure for the west.
The Tagus, the central river of Spain, and which divides its territory
into two nearly equal portions, rises from a fountain called the Fuente
Garcia, or Pie, on the south side of the Muela de San Juan, between the
Sierras de Molina, Albaracin, and San Felipe, the knot of mountains
which, as we have indicated above, form the great watershed of the
peninsula, whence the waters flow northwards to the Ebro, east and
southwards to the Mediterranean, and westwards, in the Tagus and its
tributaries, to the Atlantic. Were the whole peninsula of Spain and
Portugal one kingdom, the Tagus would be perhaps the most important of
its rivers; but in the divided state it is of far more value to Portugal
than to Spain. Its swift and turbid current, flowing between steep
banks, and in a bed broken into rapids and encumbered by rocks, is
scarcely navigable above Abrantes. The basin of the Tagus contains an
area of nearly 30,000 square miles, and its length is estimated at
about 550. The rainfall is less than that of the Douro, being only
sixteen inches annually. The river, moreover, runs by no means in the
centre of its basin, but far to the southwards of a central dividing
line, and consequently the tributaries which it receives from the north
or left bank are of much greater importance than those which come from
the south or right. After flowing a few miles in a north-westerly
direction, the river gradually bends, first westerly, and then in a
slightly south-westerly direction, in a deep channel, through a bare
rolling country, where everything takes the prevailing colour of red
dusty uplands, until it arrives at Aranjuez, situated at the confluence
of the Jarama and the Tagus, a royal residence whose abundance of water
and of shade make it a true oasis in a desert. The Jarama, which rises
in the Guadarama, brings in also the waters of the Henares, and those of
the Manzanares, on which Madrid is situated. These streams have been the
subjects of many projects and attempts at canalization, either for
irrigation or for supplying the metropolis with water. Most of these
have failed, but a canal from Porcal to Aranjuez, of seventeen miles and
a half, is in working order. The canal of Cabarrus brings the waters of
the Lozoya to Madrid. But the great enterprise of the canal of
irrigation from the Henares, constructed by the same English company
which made the canal of the Esla, and which was to have been
twenty-eight miles in length, and to have irrigated 30,000 acres, is
suspended by lawsuits as to the ownership of the waters. The Alberche,
which rises to the north of the Sierra de Gredos, enters the Tagus near
Talavera de la Reyna. The Tietjar, and the Alagon, which joins the main
stream just above Alcantara, beside the frontier stream, the Heyas, are
the only Spanish waters of importance from the north before the Tagus
enters Portugal; and from the south the Salor and the del Monte, both of
which have their rise and course in the same province of Caceres alone
need mention. In the upper part of its course, however, the smaller
tributaries of both the Tagus and the Guadiana often overlap, and but a
very few miles separate the Tagus itself from the waters which flow into
the Guadiana.
The exact source of the Guadiana has been a subject of much debate and
of many fables. Its true origin seems to be in a series of lakes at the
junction of the provinces of Ciudad Real and Albacete, near Montiel, in
La Mancha. A picturesque stream, the Ruidosa, with many cascades and
broken water, connects these lakes; but after running a few miles in a
north-westerly direction, it disappears underground near Tomesillo, and
is believed to rise to the surface after about twenty miles, in the Ojos
(eyes) of the Guadiana, near Damiel. Very soon it receives from the
right the united waters of the Zancara and the Giguela, streams whose
contributions are much more scanty, especially in summer, than the
length of their course on the map would lead one to suppose; thence the
river flows in a westerly direction, passing near Ciudad Real, below
which the Javalon enters from the left, coming from the Campo de
Montiel; near Don Benito the Zuja, from the Sierra Morena, joins it, and
some miles lower down the Matachet. Flowing past Medellin, five miles
below Badajoz the river crosses the frontier of Portugal, changes its
course from westerly to south-west, and afterwards south and south-east,
till it again joins the frontier near San Lucar, and dividing the two
countries till its mouth, falls into the Gulf of Cadiz at Ayamonte. In
the lower part of its course the river, which before has been wide and
shallow, and often almost dry in summer, narrows its course, and rushes
with impetuosity through the rapids called the Salto del Lobo (the
wolf's leap), near Serpa, in Portugal. The whole length of the Guadiana
is estimated at 550 miles, and the area of its bed at 24,000 square
miles. The rainfall is about fourteen inches.
To the south of the rivers of the plateau the only considerable stream
is the Guadalquiver, with its tributaries. The character of this river
is entirely different to that of the former streams. Like the Ebro, it
forms a true valley, instead of merely cutting its way through rocks,
canons, and defiles. Its bed is on an average about 1200 feet below that
of the Guadiana in the greater part of its course. It is also the only
river in Spain of any utility for navigation; the tide is felt beyond
Seville, and vessels of 200 to 300 tons ascend to that city. There are
also several lines of steamboats trading thence directly with London,
Marseilles, Bilbao, Cadiz, and Gibraltar. The Guadalquiver takes its
rise from two sources--one, in the streams Guadalimar and Guadarmeno,
rises in the Sierra Alcaraz, and not very far from the sources of the
Guadiana; the other, which bears the name of the Guadalquiver, in the
south-west of the Sierra Sagra; this latter branch is soon joined by the
Guadiana Menor, coming down from the Sierra Nevada. The basin of the
Guadalquiver presents this peculiarity, that its boundary is not formed
by the line of the highest summits; on the contrary, many of its
tributaries take their rise on the farther side of the Sierra Morena on
the north, and of the Sierras de Granada and Nevada on the south, and
have cut their way through these higher grounds to join the Guadalquiver
in the plains of Andalusia. The upper part of its course is very rapid,
and the junction of the two rivers Guadalimar and Guadalquiver, in the
plains of Baeza, is about 5000 feet below the Punta de Almenara; but
from thence to the sea the fall is very slight. After the junction the
river passes by Andujar, Montoro, and Cordova, receiving on both banks
the waters of many streams of but little importance; but between Cordova
and Seville it is joined by its largest tributary, the Xenil, which
rises in the Sierra Nevada, and flowing through the celebrated Vega of
Granada, bursts through the Antequera mountains to enter the great plain
of Andalusia, and loses itself in the Guadalquiver. From Seville
downward the character of the stream is greatly changed; it wanders in
large meanderings through low and marshy grounds for two or three
leagues on each bank, mostly uninhabited, and used only for pasturing
cattle. These low lands, which are called _Marismas_, in dry weather are
covered with clouds of black dust, and in wet are an almost impassable
slough of mud; mid these the river divides, and its winding beds form
two islands--Isle Mayor and Menor, the former of which is wholly given
to cattle, while the latter is inhabited and well cultivated; The river
finally enters the Gulf of Cadiz, at San Lucar de Barameda, forcing its
way with difficulty through low hills of sand, like those of the Landes
in France. The marshes near the mouth are utilized as _Salinas_, for
making excellent salt; and on the hills which overlook the _Marismas_
some of the most renowned wines and fruits of Spain are produced. The
whole course of the Guadalquiver is about 340 miles and the area of its
basin 21,000: the rainfall is estimated at nineteen inches.
The other streams which fall into the Gulf of Cadiz--the Rio Tinto,
which runs into the Huelva basin, and the Guadalete at Cadiz--are of no
utility for navigation. The little port of Palos, whence Columbus sailed
to discover a new world, is almost entirely blocked up by sands brought
down by the former torrent.
The remaining rivers of Spain--those which, descending from the great
plateau, flow eastward to the Mediterranean--though all useless for
navigation, are among the most productive of all its streams. Flowing
through a country whose temperature exceeds that of the opposite coast
of Africa; where the rainfall is either scanty, or disastrous in
quantity from rare but terrible storms; and through districts in which
no rain falls for years together--the waters of these rivers, skilfully
applied to irrigation, have rendered what would otherwise be a barren
land one of fertility unparalleled in Europe. Unlike the peasants of
Castile, the cultivators of Murcia and Valencia have learnt to value the
use of water in agriculture; although even there, works which were first
constructed by the Moors have been allowed to fall into ruin, and are
yearly becoming of less utility. Of this we shall speak more at length
below. The three great rivers we have yet to notice are the Murcian
Segura, and the Jucar and Guadalaviar, in Valencia.
The river Segura takes its rise in the Sierra de Segura, between the
Sierras of Alcaraz and Sagra. The upper part of its course is that of a
mountain torrent, leaping from terrace to terrace of the mountains as it
descends, until after the junction of the Mundo, which rises from a
cirque in the Sierra Alcaras, like the cirque of Gavarnie in the
Pyrenees, and flows through a deep ravine from the north-east. Its
waters are dammed up, cut into numberless channels, and almost wholly
utilized for irrigation, so that only about ten per cent of them reaches
the sea; the rest are dissipated in the huertas of Murcia, Orihuela, and
part of Elche. Its tributary the Sangonera loses almost all its waters
in the plains of Lorca. With the little Vinalapo, almost 15,000 acres
are rendered productive by the waters of these streams in one of the
driest districts of Spain. The wheat of Orihuela is some of the finest
in Spain; and so certain is the crop as to give rise to the proverb,
"Rain or no rain, there is always wheat in Orihuela." The Segura has a
course of about 217 miles, and an area of about 850 square miles; the
average rainfall is estimated at about twelve inches, but the difference
is very great in different years, as the district is liable to rare but
most heavy and destructive floods.
The Jucar takes its rise not far from the sources of the Tagus, on the
south side of the Muela de San Juan, which we have before mentioned as
the culminating watershed of the peninsula. It flows first in a
south-westerly direction as far as Cuenca, whence it gradually turns
south and south-east, and at Jorquera, to the north-east of Albacete,
strikes eastwards for the Mediterranean, which it finally enters at
Cullera. Like the Segura and Guadalaviar, its waters are drained off for
irrigation; but its basin is narrower, and it can boast of no fertility
equal to the huertas of Murcia or Valencia. Its course is about 317
miles, the area of its bed 580, and the rainfall some twelve and a half
inches; the irrigated land is over 30,000 acres.
The Guadalaviar, or Turia, rises on the north side of the Muela de San
Juan, and descending rapidly, flows eastward past Albarracin and Teruel;
at which latter town it turns abruptly southwards till it enters the
province of Valencia, where it again takes a more easterly course,
flowing with ever-diminished stream through the rich garden of Valencia,
at which city it falls into the Mediterranean, with water which, except
in time of flood, scarcely rises above the ankle. The length of its
course is about 187 miles, the area of its basin 320 square miles; it
irrigates over 25,000 acres near Valencia.
Besides these larger rivers, there are on the Mediterranean slope
innumerable smaller streams, whose waters, though of little geographical
importance, are of the greatest utility to agriculture. In summer
scarcely a drop of their waters reaches the sea; all is either employed
for irrigation, or dissipated by evaporation; often they are dammed up
to form reservoirs or _pantanos_, sometimes employed for rice culture.
But small as these streams are, it is to them that this burning coast
owes its beauty and fertility, its almost tropical vegetation and its
rich products. The fair gardens of Castellon, of Gandia, of Murviedro
would be barren and valueless without these waters. Still farther to the
north the waters of the Llobregat, and the canal of Urgel in Catalonia,
are used for the same purpose.
The lakes of Spain are neither large nor numerous, but some are curious
from a geographical point of view. On the high plateaux whence the
Guadiana, the Guadalimar, the Segura, and the Jucar take their rise,
either a dam or a trench would suffice to turn the waters either to the
Atlantic or the Mediterranean; and here alone in Western Europe are
found temporary lakes with no outlet, and consequently salt from excess
of evaporation. For the same reason salt springs and brackish streams
abound in these highlands. All around the coast, both on the Atlantic
and Mediterranean, salinas, or salt-works for making salt, either from
the sea or from the brackish water of lagoons and tidal marshes, abound;
those of Cadiz, and of the coast between Cartagena and Alicante are
celebrated for the excellence of their salt. Besides these are the five
Albuferas, or lagoons, of Valencia, Alicante, Elche, Auna, and Oropesa.
Of these that of Valencia is far the largest, and feeds enormous
quantities of fish and of aquatic fowl of all kinds. The interior lakes,
as that of Sanabria in Zamora, Gallocanta in Aragon, and those from
which many of the rivers take their source, are noted only for their
picturesque beauty. We can hardly show the value of water in Spain
better than by directing the reader's attention to the number of places
which take their name from water of some kind: thus there are forty-four
villages or towns whose names are compounded of _Aguas_, waters; 238
into which the word _Fuente_, fountain, enters; 144 _Rios_, rivers; 54
_Arroyos_, brooks; 44 _Pozos_, wells; 30 _Salinas_, salt waters; 9 _Rio
Secos_, dry rivers; and about 600 _Molinos_ or water-mills. The
multiplicity of these last dates perhaps from the time when every
seigneur had his own mill, and obliged his vassals to grind their corn
there; but assuredly in a moister climate water would not have played so
great a part in the nomenclature, or toponymy, of the country.
We add the following table, deduced from Reclus' "Nouvelle Geographie
Universelle," 6 deg. Serie, p. 886, compared with an article in "La Revista
Contemporanea," December 30th, 1880:--
Area of Length of Mean Outfall compared
Rivers. basin. course. rainfall. with rainfall.
Sq. miles. Miles. Inches. Per cent.
Northern {Minho&Sil 10,000 190 47-1/2 50
Rivers. {Ebro 25,000 466 18 20
Rivers of {Douro 35,000 506 20 40
the {Tagus 30,000 556 16 33
Central {Guardiana &
Plateau. {Zancara 24,000 553 14 20
Andulasia Guadalquiver 21,000 340 19 30
Mediterranean {Segura 8500 217 12 10
Rivers. {Jucar 5800 317 12-1/2 15
E. & S.E. {Guadalaviar 3200 187 -- 12
The mineral springs of Spain are very numerous, as might be expected in
a mountainous country, at the junction of different strata in the
metamorphic fissures, and in the neighbourhood of extinct volcanoes.
Many of them were known and used by the Romans, and possibly by other
races before their time. The Moors made use of many, more especially in
the south. The majority of these springs are much neglected, and the
bathing establishments in their roughness are a striking contrast to
those of Germany and of France; there is, however, no reason to suppose
that the waters themselves are less efficacious. The best known springs
lie along the line of the Pyrenees, in Catalonia, Navarre, and
especially in the Basque provinces and Santander. Another noted group
are in the neighbourhood of Granada, and on the northern slopes of the
Sierra Nevada. Those in the Guadarrama range are more frequented, from
their vicinity to Madrid. Many of the Salados and Salinas in the higher
parts of the eastern range, as well as the springs in the neighbourhood
of Valencia, might be utilized with advantage. In this, as in many other
things, Spain has not yet recovered the threads of a lost civilization,
and in many points of material comfort and well-being is behind the
Spain of Roman and of Moorish times.