The Besòs (; ) is a
river
A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
flowing through
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
,
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, formed by the confluence of the
Mogent and
Congost rivers. It ends in the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
. Its full watershed includes the following
cities
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
:
Aiguafreda,
La Garriga,
Sant Fost de Campsantelles,
Canovelles
Canovelles () is a municipality situated in the ''comarca'' of Vallès Oriental, in the province of Barcelona (province), Barcelona, part of the autonomous community of Catalonia in northeastern Spain. It is located about from the local capital ...
,
Granollers
Granollers (; ) is a city in central Catalonia, about 30 kilometres north-east of Barcelona. It is the capital and most densely populated city in the comarca of Vallès Oriental.
Granollers is now a bustling business centre, having grown from ...
,
Montmeló
Montmeló () is a municipality in the Comarques of Catalonia, comarca of Vallès Oriental, within the Barcelona metropolitan area, in Catalonia, Spain. It contains the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which is the home of the Formula One Spanish Gr ...
,
Mollet del Vallès
Mollet del Vallès () is a municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Comarques of Catalonia, ''comarca'' of the Vallès Oriental in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the valley of the Besòs (river), Besòs river, and is an important commun ...
,
Montcada i Reixac
Montcada i Reixac (), often referred to as simply Montcada, is a municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Comarques of Catalonia, ''comarca'' of the Vallès Occidental in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated at the confluence of the Ripoll river an ...
,
Santa Coloma de Gramenet
Santa Coloma de Gramenet (), informally simply known as Santa Coloma, and formerly as ''Gramenet de Besòs'' between 1936 and 1939, is a municipality in Barcelonès county, in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the south-east side of the Catal ...
,
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
and
Sant Adrià de Besòs
Sant Adrià de Besòs () is a city and a municipality within the comarca of Barcelonès in Catalonia, north-eastern Spain. It is situated on the Mediterranean coast, at the mouth of river Besòs, extending to both sides of the estuary although th ...
. Due to its Mediterranean climate, the river can have extreme discrepancies in flow depending on the weather.
Tributaries
The Besòs river has five main tributaries:
*
Congost River
*
Ripoll River
* Mogent River
* Tenes River
* de Caldes stream
History
A non-navigable river, the Besòs was nonetheless a link between the Catalan coast and the interior. In the 10th century, the
Rec Comtal
The Rec Comtal of Barcelona was a hydraulic structure of first magnitude that was an irrigation canal until the 19th century being one of the main water supplies of the city, which was used for irrigation and also as hydraulic force to operate th ...
was built to use the river for irrigation.
In 1962, the river along with
Llobregrat river overflowed
causing a flood in many areas of the
Vallés Occidental and to a less extent in
Vallés Oriental and
Barcelonés. The flood caused many deaths (617 according to the official death toll and up to 1000 according to some estimates) and material damage.
As it passes through a highly industrialized area (Barcelona metropolitan region), it had the dubious honor of being the most contaminated river in Europe during the 1970s and 1980s. Since the mid-1990s, however, the river has been in the process of recovery.
The ''
Fòrum Universal de les Cultures'', which took place in Barcelona during 2004, allowed the creation of a recreation area called ''Parc Fluvial del Besòs'' between the cities of
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
,
Santa Coloma de Gramenet
Santa Coloma de Gramenet (), informally simply known as Santa Coloma, and formerly as ''Gramenet de Besòs'' between 1936 and 1939, is a municipality in Barcelonès county, in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the south-east side of the Catal ...
and
Sant Adrià del Besòs.
Gallery
Image:Rbesos01.jpg, View from Sant Adrià de Besòs to the mountains
Image:Rbesos02.jpg, View from Sant Adrià de Besòs to the sea
Image:Rbesos03.jpg, The river mouth
See also
*
List of rivers of Spain
This is an incomplete list of rivers that are at least partially in Spain. The rivers flowing into the sea are sorted along the coast. Rivers flowing into other rivers are listed by the rivers they flow into. Rivers in the mainland Iberian Peninsu ...
*
Llobregat
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Besos (river)
Rivers of Spain
Rivers of Catalonia