Perhaps not a beautiful place, but the colours of the algae and stains on the concrete bed of this river channel in Malaga, made for an interesting picture.

I was curious as to why the river, The Gudalmedina, looks like this where it flows practically beside the beautiful old town of the city, and the reason is largely down to a devastating flood that occurred in 1907 which resulted in water levels several metres higher than normal, and the loss of lives and property.

Through the 20th century a variety of systems such as dams, dykes, and re-planting of trees were implemented to prevent a reoccurrence of the flooding. However, it became apparent later in the century that these were still not sufficient to protect the city and a new reservoir was constructed to help prevent further floods and also to provide drinking water.

As a result of this, the river channel through the city is dry much of the time and has become something of an eyesore. Although there have been plans to develop the channel into a more attractive site, these have not come to fruition (although there is evidence of trees planted on the left-hand bank in my photograph).

I found a video on Youtube that gives more information on the history of the river and why it became what it is today.

The video was uploaded in March 2023, so I guess some activities to improve the site must have taken place since then, and while I was taking my picture I noticed a refuse truck removing rubbish from the river bed.

Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f.3.5-5.6 AF-D & Kodak Portra 400. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted with Negative Lab Pro

Taken 20 August 2023.