About La Serena Dam

La Serena is the largest reservoir in Spain and one of the largest in Western Europe, located in the province of Badajoz in Extremadura on the Zújar river, a major tributary of the Guadiana. Completed in 1990, the gravity dam stands 60 metres tall and holds a total capacity of 3,219 million cubic metres, making it a critical piece of water infrastructure for the arid interior of the Iberian Peninsula. The reservoir serves multiple purposes: irrigation for the extensive agricultural lands of the Guadiana basin, hydroelectric power generation, water supply for surrounding communities, and flood control during the intense autumn and winter rainfall events that periodically affect Extremadura. La Serena's vast surface area — nearly 14,000 hectares when full — creates one of the largest artificial lakes in Europe, supporting a rich ecosystem of waterbirds and fish. The surrounding landscape of dehesa (Mediterranean oak woodland) and dry grassland gives the reservoir a distinctive character. The dam's construction was part of the Guadiana Hydrological Plan, which aimed to regulate the highly variable flow regime of the river system and support agricultural development in one of Spain's least economically developed regions.