You see their odd greenish surfaces almost everywhere you go in the Spanish countryside – the man-made water reservoirs. There are currently over 1,200 large dams in Spain which provide a capacity of 56,000 hm3 of water. Spain is the fifth country in the world after China, the US, India and Japan that has more dams. Between 1990 and 2015 Spain built and put into operation 214 dams.
The Almansa dam in the Albacete province is the oldest dam in Europe still in use, the work constructing it began in 1578. The Almendra dam that is located at the lower reaches of the river Tormes is the highest dam in Spain with its 202 meters.
