The heritage complex of Locks 34-35-36, built between 1759 and 1804, is located in the municipality of Villamuriel de Cerrato (Palencia), at kilometer 106.000 of the Southern Branch of the Canal de Castilla, in an area known as Soto de Albúrez. Its overall function was to overcome a difference in elevation using three consecutive locks, control the flow rate, and divert water for related uses, integrating navigation, maintenance, and energy production in a single location.
The main feature consists of three interconnected, triple-type locks with rectangular basins—the first oval in shape—and staggered dimensions that demonstrate their adaptation to the slope. They are built of limestone ashlar and retain the supports for the operating winches. The hydraulic design is particularly complex: in the upper right wing, a submerged intake feeds an underground conduit, while the wing itself connects to the coastal channel of the diversion canal, forming a keel that separates the flows. From the crossing, one intake runs in the open air and discharges downstream of the bridge, and another runs parallel to the canal, partly buried and partly open. A fixed-walled side spillway on the left bank discharges into the basin via an underground conduit. The state of preservation is fair, and the entire original structure is protected.
Associated with the locks are preserved the semicircular arched bridge over the locks, with stone parapets and a roadway to be restored; a lock keeper’s house, rectangular in plan and with a gabled roof, recently rehabilitated and now used as a bar; a modernized and operating hydroelectric power station; and remains of ruined buildings, evidence of former auxiliary functions, all of them built with limestone, brick and wood according to their typology.
A visit to the complex offers a complete experience: strolling among interlocking locks, crossing historic bridges, and enjoying a wooded rest area by the water. The relationship between engineering, landscape, and social use makes this site one of the most attractive stops on the Southern Branch of the Canal de Castilla.
