The Belmonte Pond is located in the province of Palencia, within the Tierra de Campos region, alongside the Campos branch of the Castile Canal, in the immediate vicinity of the town of Belmonte de Campos. This site is part of the protected area ZEPA Lagunas del Canal de Castilla, included in the Natura 2000 network.
Its origin is directly linked to the construction and operation of the Canal de Castilla between the 18th and 19th centuries. The excavation of the riverbed, the barrier effect of the canal, and the hydraulic regulation associated with lock number five—the last one in the Palencia section—altered the natural drainage of the land, favoring the accumulation of water and the formation of this pool, which over time became naturalized.
The Belmonte Pond features a seasonal water level, highly dependent on the canal’s flow and weather conditions. Its banks support marsh vegetation, adding ecological diversity to a landscape dominated by dryland cereal crops and creating a striking environmental contrast in the open Tierra de Campos region.
For the visitor, the Belmonte Pond is a significant stop on the journey of the Castile Canal, especially in its final stretch in Palencia, allowing one to understand the canal as an ecological and cultural corridor where history, landscape and nature are closely linked.
