The ghost town of Tristanes, the abandoned Isabel II reservoir and the Hoyazo crater

The province of Almería, in Andalusia (Spain), is a territory full of interesting sites for exploration enthusiasts.

The Spanish tunnel, now in ruins, made famous by an Indiana Jones movie
The old anti-aircraft artillery battery of Cuesta de los Presos, in Almería

Yesterday, my favorite YouTube channel, Aventuras Entresierras (which I recommend you subscribe to if you are interested in exploration in general or if you just want to learn new things and have a good time), published an interesting route through the Sierra Alhamilla, which takes in several interesting sites in the Almería municipality of Níjar. The route begins in the ghost town of Tristanes, an old mining town located 290 meters above sea level that was abandoned more than a decade ago, when mining activity ceased.

The route continues along the abandoned Isabel II reservoir, a formidable stone work 35 metres high with an initial capacity of 15 cubic hectometres. It was built with private capital by the Compañía del Pantano de Níjar and was inaugurated on 8 May 1850. The idea for this dam arose from the need for water for the crops of Níjar, but its construction did not take into account the torrential rains in that area. In 1861 it was already half-filled, covering more than half of its capacity a few years after its inauguration. At the end of the 19th century the reservoir was almost full of sediment, rendering it unusable.

Finally, the route reaches the Hoyazo crater, an ancient volcano from 6.2 million years ago. It is also known as the Granatilla Volcano, due to the abundance of a type of mineral, garnet, which has historically been used as a semi-precious stone. I leave you with this interesting video, in which its protagonists are guided by the intrepid quadruped Alfred, who already has a good fan club here in Vigo (the video is in Spanish, you can activate automatic English subtitles in the bottom bar of the player):

You can see some screenshots from this video here as a preview. We start with the ghost town of Tristanes. In the centre we can see the aqueduct that runs down from the Isabel II reservoir.

Here we have the reservoir, with its formidable wall made of stone extracted from a nearby quarry. In the video you can see some of the accessible parts of the wall and the current state of the interior of this reservoir, as well as some fantastic aerial shots.

The intrepid Alfred advancing fearlessly towards a mysterious tunnel. For a moment I thought there was a Balrog of Morgoth or some other dangerous beast inside waiting to devour our brave adventurers.

A part of the crater of the Hoyazo volcano. In the video you can see more aerial shots of this impressive place, and also the descent of the adventurers into its interior, in search of garnets.