El Lago de Sanabria is located in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, in Zamora, at 1000 meters above the seal level. It has been named the biggest lake of natural origin in the Iberian Peninsula and the biggest of glacial origin in Europe. Its main flow comes from Tera river.
During the Pleistocene, about 100,000 years ago, a more than 20 kilometers glacial created the current Lago de Sanabria. It happened during the coldest phases of the Quaternary, and the glacial conditions modified significantly the mountain shapes. The Last Glacial Period created large snow and ice concentrations, creating a glacial out of which diverged huge ice tongues placed in the previous formed valleys. The Ice Age ended more than 10,000 years ago but the alterations caused in the landscape still remain today.
It was designated Nature Park in 1978, since it aims towards the preservation of the unique morphology that the quaternary glaciers left in its rocks, its rich flora and fauna and the purity of its water, formed by more than 20 lagoons. Furthermore, UNESCO designated it Cross-Border Biosphere Reserve “Meseta Ibérica” alongside other Spanish and Portuguese natural reserves.
Currently, the lake has various sandy beaches in which swimming and fishing is permitted. The biggest of them all is called Viquiella, of thin sand. Moreover, there are delimited zones in order to enjoy a wide variety of water sports, such as scuba diving, canoeing, sailing or windsurf. Furthermore, they own a wind and solar catamaran since 2011 planned to facilitate underwater investigation and create touristic and didactic tours. Going onshore from Custa Lago, in the main beach, there is a 10 meters length, underwater rock. Moreover we can find Las Moras Island almost touching the other shore, a small yet beautiful “island” with plenty of vegetation.
One of the most tragic events that took place in Lago de Sanabria happened in one of its reservoirs, known as the Ribaldelago catastrophe. The Vega de Tera reservoir broke in 1959 which led to the flooding and destruction of the village of Ribaldelago, killing 144 inhabitants. Most of the buildings were destroyed by the flooding as well and only 28 corpses could be found in the depths of Lago de Sanabria.
There is a legend around thought to be prescient of this catastrophe, and it narrates the creation the lake. It is said that one day a homeless man came to Villaverde de Lucerna begging for some coins. His petition was only attended by a group of women cooking bread in the oven. They took pity on him, put more dough in the oven for him, and it grew until the bread brimmed. In that moment, they heard the beggar say that he was Jesus Christ and he would punish the village for being selfish, flooding the whole village, so if they did not want to suffer that punishment, they would have to use the mountains as a shelter. Water flooded all Villaverde, and only the oven remained intact. This oven shapes the small island that is nowadays present in Lago de Sanabria.
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