Walhalla: Balates and bancales

Balates and bancales were much in evidence on our walk up (and up, and up) the western face of the barranco of the Río Poqueira today. A balate is a dry stone wall used to support a terraced crop area; a bancal is the terrace itself. These small parcels of irrigated crop land or orchards are the main visual elements on the steep hillsides around here, their staggered arrangements resembling giant staircases.

The small bancales we passed today were largely abandoned - which is true of most of the terraces around here that are on land too steep to be reached by even a four-wheel-drive track. Up until the 1960s and 70s, they were accessed by horse, burro, or mule, but now if they can’t be reached by tractor, they likely have fallen into disuse.

Nevertheless, their remains made for a beautiful climb up until we were above the village of Pampaneira and on a level with Bubión across the ravine. On the way, we passed the third acequia in this area: Acequia Cachariche. Like all the Roman and Moorish acequias, it operates totally by gravity (no pumps or machinery like you see in other irrigation systems), leaving the Río Poqueira at an elevation of 1090 meters, and losing only 100 meters on its journey to end in the Cañadillas barranco 5 km later. This acequia is the first one we have seen on this trip that is an acequia de careo, not de riego (irrigation). Its purpose is to direct the water to permeable areas where the abundant water from snowmelt can sink down into the ground, recharge the aquifer, and emerge many months later and hundreds of meters lower as springs that serve villagers during the dry summer months.Read more