Càñar: Four water mills in a row

We started out with three questions this morning.
1. Would we be able to find all four of the flour mills that the ADR fichas show existed in the Barranco de las Parrillas above Cañar?
2. If we found one or more, would there be enough of the mill structure left to see how it worked?
3. Would we be able to figure out why there were so many mills all in one small area?

The answers in short: no; sort of; and yes.

The answers in more detail:
1. Even with maps, photos and common sense to help us, we found only one mill (the ruins of the others have disappeared) - and we are not even sure which one we found: alto, medio, bajo, or Tío Casmiro’s! But we had a lot of fun finding that one, so we weren’t at all disappointed.

2. We saw almost all the exterior parts of a typical rodezno mill, but not the interior machinery. A rodezno mill (see diagram in the photos) works when water is ducted off a river by an acequia-like structure called a caz. The caz follows a topo line out of the barranco, losing very little height until it reaches the top of what looks like a very tall stone chimney called a cubo. As the water falls through the cubo, its weight creates a force that drives a wheel (the rodezno) positioned horizontally, not vertically, at the bottom of the cubo. The rodezno is connected by an axle to the millstones above. The water then exits the mill through an arched opening called a cárcavo.

3. Looking at the steep slope where the barranco came down, the logic of having four mills here was clear. They were placed like links in a chain. When the water exited the first mill, it was then carried by a new caz to the top of the cubo of the second mill, which was located farther down the slope. The original amount of water now powered the second mill. Falling again, it powered the third mill in the chain, and finally reached the fourth mill. Very efficient!

A look down at the fairly level course of the Rio Guadalfeo and the flat vega extending from it made it clear to us that it would be impossible to situate rodezno mills down in the valley. They count on the force created by falling water (as is found in a barranco) to drive the wheel.

This afternoon I read that this was indeed the case. From medieval times up to the 1960’s, long trains of mules went up with wheat and descended with flour, linking the cereal-growing areas of the lower Alpujarra, with hydraulic scarcity, and the high areas, with greater energy availability.

We ended our walk by exploring south of the village and finding the ruins of an old olive oil mill, an era (threshing floor) that is now a parking lot with swings at the end, and the local school which has 24 students and five teachers!Læs mere