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Terrible postcard of the Francolí river as it passes through Montblanc, in the region of the Conca de Barberà. Unfortunately, the prolonged extreme drought we are suffering is very visible, as can be seen in this snapshot in Las Fotos de los Lectores de La Vanguardia.
There is a lot of talk about drought in the swamps, but if they are excessively dry it is because there is not enough water in the rivers. The reserves in the Ter and Llobregat reservoirs, which supply the region of Barcelona and Girona, are below a quarter of their maximum capacity. Specifically, they are at 23%, very close to the historical minimum of 2008 (20.5%).
But the drought does not only affect the Barcelona area. In this case, Francolí shows us its worst side after a summer with hardly any rainfall.
It is a river that runs through several Tarragona counties and flows into the Mediterranean, in the port of Tarragona. Its waters bathe towns such as Vimbodí, Espluga de Francolí, Montblanc, Vilaverd, la Riba, Valls, La Masó, Vilallonga del Camp, El Morell or Constantí.
Now, like most rivers in the Mediterranean basin, it has a very irregular flow and has even caused various floods on occasion, such as the one that happened in October 1994, which caused great damage in the Serrallo neighborhood of Tarragona.
Montblanc is drained by the Francolí and, by its tributary, the Anguera river. In the proximity of both, and especially at their confluence, alluvial terrain predominates. Several streams and torrents flow into these courses, such as the Río de la Vall al Francolí, the ravine of Pont de Candí and the ditches of Hortènsia and Pira in the Río de Anguera.
