Cinca
| Cinca | ||
 Cinca catchment area |
||
| Data | ||
| location | Aragon and Catalonia , Spain | |
| River system | Ebro | |
| Drain over | Segre → Ebro → Mediterranean | |
| source | 14 km northwest of Bielsa | |
| Source height | approx. 2500 msnm | |
| muzzle | south of Fraga in the Segre Coordinates: 41 ° 25 ′ 44 " N , 0 ° 20 ′ 58" E 41 ° 25 ′ 44 " N , 0 ° 20 ′ 58" E |
|
| Mouth height | 58 msnm | |
| Height difference | approx. 2442 m | |
| Bottom slope | approx. 14 ‰ | |
| length | 170 km | |
| Catchment area | 9000 km² | |
| Left tributaries | Ésera | |
| Right tributaries | Ara , Vero , Alcanadre | |
| Reservoirs flowed through | Embalse de Mediano ; Embalse de El Grado | |
| Small towns | Bielsa , Monzón , Fraga | |
 Upper course of the Cinca in the Valle de Pineta |
||
The Cinca (Spanish Río Cinca , Latin Cynga ) is the longest tributary of the Segre in northeastern Spain with 170 km .
It rises in the Spanish Pyrenees region near the French border in the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park . Several waterfalls of the third highest Pyrenean mountain Monte Perdido with 3355 msnm feed the Karsee Lago Tucarroyal , whose outflow marks the beginning of the river course.
The Cinca initially flows through the Valle de Pineta in a southeastern direction, then takes in many mountain streams of the Pyrenees foothills Sierra Marqués, Sierra de las Sucas, Sierra de Chìa, Sierra Sardanera and Sierra Ferrera and squeezes through the Cañon Desfiladero de las Desvoltas .
After passing the small town of Aínsa at the mouth of the Ara river , the river widens to the Embalse de Mediano reservoir (approx. 10 km long and approx. 2 km wide), whose dam uses the narrowness of the Desfiladero de Entremón gorge . The Cinca is dammed again just a few kilometers downstream. The Embalse de El Grado dam is about 15 km long and is used for flood protection and drinking water. The canals Canal de Aragón y Cataluña and Canal del Cinca branch off from the El Grado reservoir and ensure that agricultural crops are irrigated in the rather dry areas between Huesca , Barbastro and Lleida .
Near the town of Barbastro the area becomes flatter, the Cinca flows in a wider, still largely natural bed. South of the town of Fraga , the Cinca forms the border between the autonomous regions of Aragon and Catalonia in the last few kilometers before it flows into the Segre (which in turn flows into the Ebro after a short distance ) .
The districts of Bajo Cinca (Lower Cinca) and Cinca Medio (Middle Cinca) are named after the River Cinca . The river valley is a wine-growing area and is called DO Valle del Cinca .
