Alboçalaz was the name of the Saracen owner of the tower that in the 12th century was built on the other side of the Ebro, in front of the castle of Ascó. The great river had already seen the arrival of the Iberians, Roman Phoenicians and Visigoths. He was now witnessing the new conquests of the Christian lords and how the old tower was again caviaring. In 1175, Alfonso I of Barcelona donated it to the Spanish knight of Prades, in payment for his services in the conquest of these territories.
Only seven years later the king himself gave it again, this time to the Knights Templar, along with Ascó and his baths. It would later pass to the Hospitallers and remain in the hands of the church until the 19th century. In their shelter, generations of farmers have left their backs to raise margins and worked the surrounding lands to bring bread home. Today, around this, they show an enviable agricultural mosaic.
At the foot of the Sierra del Tormo, anjubs and water mines speak of the good work of these generations to manage a resource as precious as water. They are examples of effort, savings, prudence and wisdom that can surely continue to inspire us in the face of the momentous changes that the climate emergency is beginning to bring about.
