Ebro

Geography

The source of the river Ebro is in the Cantabrian Mountains, in Fontibre, Cantabria (Fontibre is from Latin Fontes Iberis, i.e. 'source of the Ebro'), just 42 kilometres (26 mi) from the Bay of Biscay, in the Atlantic Ocean. Close by is a large artificial lake, Embalse del Ebro, created by its damming.

The upper Ebro rushes through rocky gorges in Burgos Province. Flowing roughly eastwards it passes las conchas de Haro and begins forming a wider river valley among limestone rocks when it reaches La Rioja and Navarre. Southern tributaries rise on the nearby watershed, the Sistema Ibérico, a mountain range among those of Spain's centre. North of the headwaters is the Cantabrian mountain range (south of Bilbao and Santander).

History

In antiquity, the Ebro was used as the dividing line between Roman (north) and Carthaginian (south) expansions after the First Punic War (264–241 BC). When the Roman Republic, fearful of Hannibal's growing influence in the Iberian Peninsula, made the city of Saguntum (considerably south of the Ebro) a protectorate of Rome, Hannibal viewed the treaty violation as an aggressive action by Rome and used the event as the catalyst to the Second Punic War.

One of the earliest Cistercian monasteries in Spain, Real Monasterio de Nuestra Señora de Rueda (lit. 'Royal' Monastery of Our Lady of the Wheel), is located on the banks of the Ebro in Aragon. Established in 1202, the edifice survives intact.

Ecology

In past times numerous lagoons, endorheic saltwater ponds, and freshwater swamps and marshes were drained, dried or filled. Almost entire riparian forests were cleared for crops or for pulpwood forest plantations. Due to these changes numerous plant and animal species have disappeared. Due to dams and hydraulic canalization, the dynamics of the river have been altered and new scroll-bars, new oxbow lakes, and new abandoned meanders will not now be created. Over a period of time, many of these phenomena tend to dry out or fill in with sediments. Some small representatives of these river dynamics and wetlands are protected.