Village
Escatrón is a municipality of the comarca of the Ribera Baja del Ebro, in Zaragoza, facing the monastery of Rueda, on the other side of the river. It is made up of the old village, in the hollow, and the new village, higher up; a thermoelectric power plant, now closed, once operated in its territory. At Cabezo de Muel an Ibero-Roman settlement from between the 3rd century BC and the 2nd century AD has been found; the name Escatrón, the ancient Scatro, may derive from the Latin castro, military camp. Reconquered by Alfonso I the Battler in 1133, in 1182 Alfonso II gave the castle and the town to the Cistercian order to build the present monastery of Rueda. In June 1234 it hosted the meeting between Ferdinand III the Saint and James I the Conqueror. It has 1189 inhabitants (INE 2025).
Monument
Alabaster altarpiece made in the early 17th century for the church of the nearby monastery of Rueda, and moved in the mid-19th century, after the disentailment, to the parish church of Our Lady of the Assumption of Escatrón, a river port until the 19th century. It still belongs to the Renaissance style, with an evolved interpretation of the traditional triumphal-arch scheme.
Curiosity
The Escatrón thermal power plant, located opposite the monastery of Rueda in the Ribera Baja del Ebro, was built in the second half of the 1940s by the state company ENCASO, which brought its first three units into operation between 1953 and 1958; Francisco Franco inaugurated it in 1953, and it went on to become the country's most important thermal power plant. It originally ran on lignite from the mines of Andorra, transported by a railway branch line active until 1978, and also on coal from Mequinenza. It passed into the hands of ENDESA in 1972, and in 1986 it was converted into an experimental lignite-combustion plant. In 2007 two new combined-cycle units were built, which today run on natural gas; it has belonged to Repsol since 2018.
Activity
Festivities of Escatrón on 5 February, in honour of Santa Águeda, with a procession of young women in regional dress carrying blessed loaves and a ribbon dance unique to the place.
Activity
Winter festival of Escatrón.
Monument
Hermitage of Santa Águeda, from the 17th century: a rectangular, single-nave plan with a straight chancel, built of masonry and rammed earth. Before her image, Escatrón's main festival is held every 5 February.
Activity
Besides its festival of Santa Águeda on 5 February, Escatrón also lights the bonfire of San Antón on 17 January, a winter custom shared with the neighbouring villages of the Ribera Baja del Ebro.
Monument
Old oil mill of Escatrón (Zaragoza, Ribera Baja del Ebro), located next to the Monastery of Rueda, of which it was once part. Its remains survive in ruins in the area of the monastery's cemetery, alongside the also ruined Baroque dormitories of the monastic complex.
Curiosity
Old hydroelectric and industrial complex of Escatrón, a testament to the industrial heritage of the Ribera Baja del Ebro. In the mid-20th century a thermoelectric power plant and a mining railway were built in the municipality to make use of the lignite from Andorra and Escucha; the plant was inaugurated in 1953 and remained in operation until the early 1980s. After its closure, two new combined-cycle power plants were built on the same site in 2006.
Historical milestone
Alfonso I reconquered Escatrón in 1133 and in 1182 Alfonso II donated the villa to the Cistercian order, the origin of the nearby monastery of Rueda. On the hill of Muel Ibero-Roman settlement is documented from the third century BC.
Historical milestone
In 1234 Jaime I the Conqueror received in Escatrón Fernando III of Castile, in one of the meetings between the two monarchs to agree the zones of expansion of their kingdoms towards the south of the peninsula. The meeting was held beside the Ebro.
Historical milestone
The thermal power station raised in the middle of the twentieth century burned lignite from the basins of Andorra and Escucha, brought by a mining railway inaugurated in 1953. The industry took the population of Escatrón from some two thousand six hundred households to more than seven thousand.
Food and drink
Every 5 February Escatrón celebrates Santa Águeda with a procession in which the young women, dressed in regional costume, carry the blessed loaves that are afterwards distributed among the residents. The custom is accompanied by a ribbon dance typical of the place.