Besòs - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Besòs is a river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

flowing through Catalonia

Catalonia

Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, formed by the confluence of the Mogent and Congost

Congost River

The Congost is a river basin of the Besòs river and owes its name to the narrow gorge through which it passes, largely through the catalan pre-coastal mountain range.-Source:...

rivers. It ends in the Mediterranean. Its full watershed includes the following cities

City

A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

: Aiguafreda

Aiguafreda

Aiguafreda is a municipality in the comarca of Vallès Oriental, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is located near the Montseny massif...

, La Garriga

La Garriga

La Garriga is a village in the province of Barcelona and autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain.-References:...

, Sant Fost de Campsantelles

Mollet del Vallès

Mollet del Vallès is a municipality in the comarca of the Vallès Oriental in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the valley of the Besòs river, and is an important communications hub from Barcelona towards the north: the AP-7 Motorway passes through the municipality, as do the RENFE railway lines...

, Canovelles

Canovelles

Canovelles is a municipality situated in the comarca of Vallès Oriental, in the province of Barcelona, part of the autonomous community of Catalonia in northeastern Spain...

, Granollers

Granollers

Granollers is a city near Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and most densely populated city of the comarca of Vallès Oriental.Granollers is a bustling business centre, and many industries are located there...

, Montmeló

Montmeló

Montmeló is a municipality in the comarca of Vallès Oriental in Catalonia, Spain. It contains the Circuit de Catalunya, which is the home of the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix and the MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix.- Demography :-References:...

, Mollet del Vallès

Mollet del Vallès

, Montcada i Reixac

Montcada i Reixac

Montcada i Reixac , often referred to as simply Montcada, is a municipality in the comarca of the Vallès Occidental inCatalonia, Spain. It is situated at the confluence of the Ripoll river and the Besós river, and very close to the northernmost neighbourhoods of the city of Barcelona and is...

, Santa Coloma de Gramenet

Santa Coloma de Gramenet

Santa Coloma de Gramenet is a city in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the south-east side of the Litoral range, with the Puig Castellar...

, Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

and Sant Adrià de Besòs

Sant Adrià de Besòs

Sant Adrià de Besòs is a city in the comarca of the Barcelonès in Catalonia, northern Spain. It is situated at the mouth of the river Besòs, extending to both sides of the estuary. The original settlement with the parish church is on the left bank of the river, in the north of the municipal...

. Due to its Mediterranean climate, the river can have an extreme discrepancies in flow depending on the weather.

Tributaries

The Besòs river has five main tributaries:

Mogent River
Congost River
Congost River
The Congost is a river basin of the Besòs river and owes its name to the narrow gorge through which it passes, largely through the catalan pre-coastal mountain range.-Source:...
Tenes River
Riera de Caldes stream
Ripoll River
Ripoll River
The Ripoll is a river in the comarca of Vallès Occidental, Catalonia, Spain. It covers the vast majority of the shire, crossing it from north to south, and flows into the river Besòs, near Barcelona.-Geography:...

History

Impossible to navigate, the Besós was nonetheless a link between the Catalan coast and the interior. In the tenth century, the Rec Comtal was built to utilize the river for irrigation.

As it passes through a highly industrialized area (Barcelona metropolitan region), it had the dubious honor of being the most contaminated river in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

during the 1970s and 1980s. Since the mid-1990s, however, the river has been in the process of recovery. The Fòrum Universal de les Cultures, which took place in Barcelona during 2004, allowed the creation of a recreation area called Parc Fluvial del Besòs between the cities of Barcelona