El Chorro Reservoir Malaga or Conde de Guadalhorce Reservoir<\/h1><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>Rafael Benjumea Bur\u00edn<\/strong> was the author of the project for the El Chorro Reservoir<\/strong> or Conde de Guadalhorce Dam<\/strong>. Those who know the dam will understand perfectly why his contemporaries called Benjumea “the poet engineer<\/em>“. His works were described as genius because in them he combined the functionality of an engineering work with respect for the natural environment, harmonizing utility with the beauty of the workmanship. <\/p>\nThe praises of the beauty of the reservoir reached the ears of King Alfonso XIII<\/strong>, who paid an official visit on May 21, 1921. The king was so impressed by what he saw that in September of the same year he granted Rafael Benjumea the title of Count of Guadalhorce<\/strong>, “for himself, his children and legitimate successors<\/em>“. <\/p>\nBut before we got here, a lot of things had happened….<\/p>\n
At the beginning of the 20th century, Malaga’s electricity supply depended on two foreign companies, which were able to manufacture electricity with steam engines. Two of the main families of the industrial bourgeoisie of Malaga, the Loring<\/strong> and the Heredia<\/strong>, related to each other, were the protagonists of a business initiative that culminated in the construction of the El Chorro Reservoir, called Embalse del Conde de Guadalhorce since 1953. <\/p>\nIt was precisely the first Count of Guadalhorce, the engineer Rafael Benjumea Bur\u00edn, who understood that the industrial development of the province required the construction of a power plant capable of producing enough electricity.<\/p>\n<\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>![](\"https:\/\/lagarganta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/El-caminito-del-rey-conde-del-guadalhorce2-min.jpg\" "\\"El")
<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>Visit the surroundings of El Chorro<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>
Rafael Benjumea Bur\u00edn<\/strong> was the author of the project for the El Chorro Reservoir<\/strong> or Conde de Guadalhorce Dam<\/strong>. Those who know the dam will understand perfectly why his contemporaries called Benjumea “the poet engineer<\/em>“. His works were described as genius because in them he combined the functionality of an engineering work with respect for the natural environment, harmonizing utility with the beauty of the workmanship. <\/p>\n The praises of the beauty of the reservoir reached the ears of King Alfonso XIII<\/strong>, who paid an official visit on May 21, 1921. The king was so impressed by what he saw that in September of the same year he granted Rafael Benjumea the title of Count of Guadalhorce<\/strong>, “for himself, his children and legitimate successors<\/em>“. <\/p>\n But before we got here, a lot of things had happened….<\/p>\n At the beginning of the 20th century, Malaga’s electricity supply depended on two foreign companies, which were able to manufacture electricity with steam engines. Two of the main families of the industrial bourgeoisie of Malaga, the Loring<\/strong> and the Heredia<\/strong>, related to each other, were the protagonists of a business initiative that culminated in the construction of the El Chorro Reservoir, called Embalse del Conde de Guadalhorce since 1953. <\/p>\n It was precisely the first Count of Guadalhorce, the engineer Rafael Benjumea Bur\u00edn, who understood that the industrial development of the province required the construction of a power plant capable of producing enough electricity.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/span><\/div>Visit the surroundings of El Chorro<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>
![\"arc_176943_g\"](\"https:\/\/lagarganta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/arc_176943_g-300x219.jpg\")
<\/a>Rafael Benjumea was married to Isabel Heredia Loring, whose cousin, Jorge Loring Heredia had obtained in 1901 the concession for the hydroelectric exploitation of the Guadalhorce River. In 1903, Jorge Loring, Rafael Benjumea and Francisco Silvela (also married to a Loring Heredia), founded the Sociedad Hidroel\u00e9ctrica de El Chorro<\/strong>, with a capital of two million pesetas, whose purpose was the production of energy without the dependence of any foreign capital. <\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/lagarganta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/El-caminito-del-rey-decreto-de-la-Divisi%C3%B3n-Hidr%C3%A1ulica-min-2.jpg\")
The heavy floods that M\u00e1laga suffered in 1907 led to the creation of the Divisi\u00f3n Hidr\u00e1ulica del Sur de Espa\u00f1a<\/strong>, created to prevent catastrophes and ensure the use of water for irrigation. Rafael Benjumea had in mind to build a reservoir on the Tur\u00f3n river that would accumulate enough water to irrigate the entire Guadalhorce valley and guarantee electricity production. <\/p>\n