What if the worst tragedy for the Guadalperal Dolmen is not that the water swallows it forever?
The reservoirs in summer usually present their poorest version. When the waters go down due to the high temperatures leave a desolate landscape exposed . Sediments without defined forms, ugly aquatic plants, sinuous marks of different levels and even some abandoned rusty bicycle. It is an unreal picture of what one day was. Something like a strange planet that does not want to be discovered.
This is not the case of the **Valdecañas Reservoir (Cáceres)**, which houses an unparalleled treasure inside. A treasure that is made to beg because shows his best version on rare occasions that match the Tagus river flow Under minimum.
At specific times like this past August, a magical spectacular bronze age site with an almost cinematic dolmen . It is a phantasmagorical vision and of a sweeping timeless beauty. As if the passage of time had never existed.
The Guadalperal Dolmen, known as 'the Spanish Stonehenge'
The point is that his appearance hangs by a thread because it can disappear again in a jiffy when the precipitations hide it again in the depths. The rumor has spread and there are many tourists who want to see it even once in a lifetime.
And this is the main unforeseen collateral problem. The avalanche of onlookers and the lack of surveillance of the megalithic monument They have forced to discourage the visit until further notice.
she knows it well Roots of Peraleda Cultural Association , after activating a signature request in Change.org to save the dolmen before it's too late. Save it first from the action of nature And in second place, of man's action.
It is no coincidence that the megalithic complex of the Guadalperal dolmen is known as “the Spanish Stonehenge” for its reasonable resemblance to the megalithic monument in the county of Wiltshire (England), which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986.
Aerial shot of the Guadalperal Dolmen by 1080 Wildlife
This ratifies it Brown Angel , spokesperson for the association, speaking exclusively to Condé Nast Traveler: “Perhaps they can be compared. Definitely, Stonehenge is more colorful, more imposing and more perfect , although we are talking about different constructions (a dolmen versus a cromlech) . It is as if we compare the Parthenon of Greece with the cathedral of Salamanca. The architecture of the Salamanca cathedral is much more advanced and imposing, but the Parthenon has a much more prominent place in the history of architecture, among other things, because it is a much older precursor ”.
If we pay attention to authorized voices such as that of primitive good, archaeologist and professor of Prehistory at the University of Alcalá de Henares , the Guadalperal Dolmen is one of the oldest in the world with about 7,000 years. “Taking into account its architectural complexity and its large size, it would perhaps be a one of the best specimens among the earliest . That explains why some experts do not hesitate to affirm that it could be the most important dolmen in Spain”, says Castaño to explain the importance of the monument discovered with the descent of the swamp.
To this we must add another fabulous historical fact. In the main menhir a realistic map has been detected that could house one of the oldest realistic physical maps in the world . First it was thought that there was a drawing of a snake, but they soon realized that it represented 15 kilometers of the Tagus River as it passes through the area, something that experts are about to confirm.
At this precise moment, all energies are being poured into getting it out of the waters " so that future generations can admire it ”. It is a critical decision that affects many agents involved, but what no one could imagine is that there would be a problem worse than the water level rise.
“ No on-site surveillance and no one can control what the dozens of people who usually hang around the place do, ”they denounce from the Roots of Peraleda cultural association , who summarize the situation as "chaotic" due to the real fear that a piece will break with a prank, graffiti or a selfie. And it is that the residents of Peraleda de la Mata are overwhelmed by the avalanche of foreigners.
While all the energies are being devoted to removing it from the waters, the best recommendation for tourists is that, if the historical find is really important, let the experts work and do not visit the area “for security reasons”. From the cultural association, they assure that “Our interest is to remove it from the waters and preserve it for future generations In addition to being able to serve as a catalyst to start the tourist development of an area, the Arañuelo Field , which has a lot to offer, but has no infrastructure in that regard. What we do ask is that it be relocated to its same area of origin and that it not be totally decontextualized.”
They estimate that the best option would be to maintain "its position on the water's edge, but at a non-flood level. And oriented towards sunrise, as it is now, in a place that is accessible to visitors”, says Ángel Castaño.
The problem is that the archaeologists who have analyzed the terrain They see dangers in the transfer: “The stones can be damaged when moved, but any damage would be preferable to losing the entire monument, since half of the stones are in a critical state and the platform of the monument (the ground on which it sits) is already crumbling, and has started to fall into a 50 or 60 meter abyss below its edge ”.
Images courtesy of 1080 Wildlife
It's easy to wonder if the swamp was built in the 1960s it might have fixed the problem in due time. If the authorities had proof of its existence for many years, why didn't you act sooner?
“Its importance was not yet known” Angel Castaño says. “Later, once everything was flooded by the swamp, never before has there been an opportunity like this to save him . On many occasions the dolmen has come out of the water, a lot or a little, but it had never been completely visible and on dry ground, so now, for the first time, they can put machinery up there and rescue it. To miss this opportunity would probably be to lose him forever. . If today people wonder how they were able to let it flood, in the future they would wonder how they were able to not rescue him when there was still time ”.
A new **geological report from AGEX (Geological Association of Extremadura)** certifies that in a few years, the dolmen will be destroyed if it is not removed from the water soon . Now the authorities must assess whether the time has come to correct a historical mistake before the waters plunge it back into darkness or worse: that irresponsible tourism destroys what nature has respected for many years.