VITAL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOUTHEAST SPAIN, IN ITS HEYDAY IT WAS EUROPE’S LONGEST COVERED WATER SUPPLY CANAL. by JP Zurdo “Tick-tock” usually denotes time passing second by second, but sometimes, it can refer to time passing drop by drop. That’s what hap-pened—a feat of engineering and patience—with the Canals of the Taibilla River, a tributary of the Segura, which is barely a trickle if you ask someone from the water-rich regions of Europe. This meager flow resulted in long delays in successive phases from 1927 on. But drop by drop, a dam was filled to achieve the goals that had been set. First, supplying the naval base of Cartagena and the city when the main, 214-km-long canal was completed in 1945. Then, expanding the network to supply part of the province of Murcia and even beyond. It reached Alhama in ‘50, Campo de Cartagena in ‘52, Lorca in ‘55, Mur-cia in ‘56, and Elche and Alicante in ‘58. With proper management, the Taibilla can go as far as the mighty Ebro. Water enables growth, but growth uses up water. This water stress was eased by the Tagus-Se-gura Water Transfer in 1979 and then, in 2003, by turning saltwater into freshwater: desalination of the Mediterranean Sea. Entrecanales y Távora was involved in the project. It built, for exam-ple, this aqueduct that enlarged the first canal in 1958. It’s almost iron-ic that it ensures a constant flow over what appears to be a river run dry, or a river with minimal flow when the riverbed doesn’t soak up all the rainwater. This photo captures the epic nature of a project that was desired for centuries, and of its workers, when the only harness was courage and safety depended on keeping your cool.