OT: Valmayor Reservoir

The Embalse de Valmayor, or Valmayor Reservoir, is situated to the northwest of Madrid in the municipality of Valdemorillo. It is managed by the Canal de Isabel II, and belongs to the basin of the Guadarrama River. The reservoir, which runs along a length of eight miles upstream of the Aulencia River, occupies an area of 755 hectares and also serves the towns of El Escorial and Colmenarejo. In terms of the amount of water stored, the Embalse de Valmayor is the second largest reservoir in the province of Madrid, with a capacity of 124.4 million cubic meters. The largest is the Atazar Reservoir, located in the basin of the Lozoya River and boasting a whopping capacity of 425.3 million cubic meters.

Despite being built on the Aulencia River, the Embalse de Valmayor receives its largest contribution of water from the Guadarrama River, located several kilometres away and possessing a much higher rate of the flow of than the Aulencia. Water from the Guadarrama reaches the reservoir through a transfer tunnel, about five miles long, which has a small reservoir sensor called Las Nieves, located near La Navata, a residential area near the city of Galapagar.

 

The 2015 Patrona Award Shortlist

The shortlist for The 2015 Patrona Award that was announced this morning is as follows:

1. The Hummingbird by Kati Hiekkapelto tr. David Hackston (Arcadia Books; Finland)
2. The Hunting Dogs by Jørn Lier Horst tr. Anne Bruce (Sandstone Press; Norway)
3. Reykjavik Nights by Arnaldur Indriðason tr. Victoria Cribb (Harvill Secker; Iceland)
4. The Human Flies by Hans Olav Lahlum tr. Kari Dickson (Mantle; Norway)
5. Falling Freely, As If In A Dream by Leif G W Persson tr. Paul Norlen (Doubleday; Sweden)
6. The silence of the Sea by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir tr. Victoria Cribb (Hodder & Stoughton; Iceland)

For additional details click here

I very much doubt whether I may be able to read them all before the announcement of the winner at the annual international crime fiction event CrimeFest, to be held in Bristol 14-17 May 2015. In any case I plan to take a break in The TBR Double Dog Dare, to be able to read as many titles as possible from the shortlist above. So far I’ve read only one, The Hunting Dogs by Jørn Lier Horst tr. Anne Bruce (Sandstone Press; Norway) my review is here.