The Escabas in the Serranía de Cuenca

A mountain river

The Escabas rises in the mountains of Tragacete and flows into the Guadiela on its left bank, in the Tagus basin. A 34.5 km stretch, including the streams of La Toba, Las Truchas and La Alconera, is a River Nature Reserve: a limestone mountain river, flowing all year and in good condition.

The Los Lagunillos walk follows its headwaters through pine forests. Further down it passes Poyatos, under the Puente Barbazoso, and through the canyons of Fuertescusa, and between Cañamares and Priego opens the Hoz de Priego, 2.6 km long with walls over 400 metres high.

What the river tells

• Priego’s hooked poles. In Priego, beside the Escabas, events celebrating the gancheros, river timber drivers, have been held for years, and the hooked poles made in the town were famous. Priego and Cañamares are included in the listing of the Gancheros del Alto Tajo as a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain’s highest heritage listing), and Priego’s museum preserves their memory. The gancheros of the Escabas and Guadiela.
• Seas of willow. In the Escabas valley, Cañamares grows basket willow and preserves basketmaking.