Presa De El Villar

The Villar Dam is one of the largest 19th-century engineering projects on the Canal de Isabel II. It was built in 1867 by the engineers Morer and Boix, and in 1879 it was put into operation. The dam was located in a ravine. Boix designed an original dam, the first of its kind in the world. It has a curvature which helps the dam structure to better withstand lateral pressure.

There is also a picturesque El Villar reservoir that runs between deep rocks. It is the oldest reservoir system in the entire region on the Canal de Isabel II - the drinking water network of the Spanish capital and a large part of the Community of Madrid. It was put into operation in 1911. On its outskirts, numerous peripheral canals were built to improve the quality of water supplied to the reservoir.