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La Pantanada de Tous

Tous, La Ribera Alta, Valencia

1 Villages · 1 Nature · 1 Curiosities

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La Pantanada de Tous

Curiosity · Tous, La Ribera Alta, Valencia

The Tous dam, on the river Xúquer, collapsed at around 19:15 on 20 October 1982 after two days of torrential rain that exceeded 600 millimetres at the head of the basin; the weakness of the rock-fill walls and an electrical fault that prevented the floodgates from opening precipitated the breach. The resulting flood, with a peak of 16,000 cubic metres per second, one of the largest ever recorded in Spain, devastated the comarcas of the Ribera Alta and the Ribera Baixa del Xúquer. In Sumacàrcer, Gabarda and Benegida the water reached eight metres in height, and Gabarda and Benegida had to relocate their urban centres to higher ground; of Benegida only the church was preserved. The dead numbered more than thirty and material damage was very extensive.

20-21 de octubre de 1982

Photo: Falla Malva (CC BY-SA 4.0)

What to see and do in Tous