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Diari de Catalunya

Discovering Vallvidrera's Hydraulic History: Mina Grott and the Reservoir

Two centuries-old infrastructures, Mina Grott and the Vallvidrera reservoir, reveal the past and present of water supply in the region.

Image of an old hydraulic infrastructure in a natural setting.
IA

Image of an old hydraulic infrastructure in a natural setting.

The Mina Grott and the Vallvidrera reservoir, two historic hydraulic infrastructures, offer a glimpse into the past of water supply in Sarrià and its evolution to the present day.

These two constructions, located in the vicinity of Vallvidrera, are testaments to 19th-century engineering and the transformation of the landscape. The Mina Grott, built around 1860, was designed to cross Collserola and connect the reservoir with Sarrià.
A historian has documented that the mine housed Spain's first electric passenger train between 1908 and 1916. This service was part of an amusement park called Lake Valley, which competed with the popular Tibidabo.
In parallel, the Vallvidrera reservoir, designed by a renowned architect, was created with the aim of supplying water to the growing town of Sarrià. However, its usefulness was short-lived due to a lack of continuity in service, which quickly rendered it obsolete.
Currently, the Mina Grott remains operational, transporting water from Barcelona to Sabadell and Sant Cugat, thanks to a renovation carried out during the 1950s. Meanwhile, the reservoir has become an important biodiversity refuge and a space for tranquility, preserving the immaterial legacy of its designer for the city.

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