Travessia d'Amposta Nedant l'Ebre

Where the Ebro river approaches its mouth, the town of Amposta sits above freshwater currents in Cataluña, Spain. Here along the river corridor, the Travessia d'Amposta Nedant l'Ebre gathers swimmers every June for an open water swimming race in the river waters of Amposta. Organized by Club Natació Amposta, the event is named the Memorial Manel Ayxendri and forms part of the Circuito Catalán de Travesías. The competition centers along the Passeig del Riu, where the riverfront promenade serves as the staging area for athletes before and after their swim. Swimmers can take on a 2000-meter race or a shorter 500-meter course designed for minors. The morning begins with the 500-meter distance departing first, followed by the 2000-meter field taking to the water. All swimmers operate under a maximum cutoff time of one hour to complete the course. Registration covers access to on-site changing rooms and showers along the promenade, alongside fresh fruit and water distributed to participants at the finish.

Race day on the Passeig del Riu

Manel Ayxandri, director of the Travessia d’Amposta, designed the course upriver and downriver so that it would be a special and unique event among open water crossings. In 2025 more than 100 participants of all ages swam either the 500 m short crossing, designed especially for younger swimmers, or the 2,005 m long race. Boats and kayaks accompanied the swimmers along the whole route in 2025. In 2025 an exhibition stood on the Passeig del Riu and was warmly received by the public.

Puente Colgante de Amposta over the river

Less than a kilometre from the race area, the historic Puente colgante de Amposta crosses the Ebro River within the city. Before its construction, travelers crossing the river had to rely entirely on old boat crossings that shuttled passengers and goods between the banks. The bridge replaced those ferries, radically altering how the town engaged with the flowing water beneath it. Engineers designed the structure with inspiration drawn directly from the Brooklyn Bridge, completing it as the second bridge in the world built with a reinforced concrete suspension system. The crossing reaches a height of 24 meters above the river and spans a total distance of 134 meters from bank to bank.

The Ebro Delta: limestone sediments and the salt wedge

In the fourth century, Roman records described Amposta as a seaport directly on the Mediterranean, but the town is now located well inland. The entire Ebro Delta has grown into a 340-square-kilometer wetland created entirely by alluvial sediments washed downriver over centuries. The riverbed itself cuts through limestone bedrock shaped by karst processes, originally formed in an ancient seabed. The water balance in the lower river remains dynamic: whenever the river discharge drops below 100 cubic meters per second, a dense salt wedge penetrates inland from the mouth, driving seawater up to 32 kilometers upriver. The bay of Los Alfaques carries its own maritime history: the San Juan tower was erected in its northern sector to defend against pirate raids, and in 1610, 38,286 Moriscos departed from Los Alfaques into overseas exile.

During the Peninsular War in 1813, eighteen English ships ran aground in the shallow waters of the bay, leading French forces to capture those vessels unable to escape. South of San Carlos de la Rápita, about eleven kilometres away from the race area, stands the maritime lighthouse at Punta de la Senieta, which began operating on September 1, 1864, and continues to guide navigation with an optical system in place since 1975. {{h2:From Roman Dertosa along the maritime Ebro}} The strategic and mercantile importance of the lower Ebro stretches deep into antiquity. Following the First Punic War, the Ebro river served as the formal dividing line between Roman and Carthaginian spheres of territorial expansion. About thirteen kilometres from the race area, the ancient city of Dertosa flourished as a bustling commercial hub that operated simultaneously as a maritime and river port thanks to its position on the Ebro. Evidence of Dertosa's dual river and sea trade appears on its Roman coinage from the first century BC and the Tiberian period, which featured depictions of both river craft and ocean-going sea vessels. A Roman funerary stele carved with the relief of a corbita cargo ship was recovered from the walls of the Zuda castle in the city.

The river remained a primary naval theater in subsequent eras. During the siege of Tortosa in 1148, about eleven kilometres away, a Genoese fleet navigated up the Ebro to establish a tight naval blockade on the river. Centuries later, during the Napoleonic siege of Tortosa, the French division of Laval blocked the city from the right bank of the Ebro starting on July 4, 1810. On the waterfront of Tortosa, about twelve kilometres from Amposta, the historic Lonja building originally faced directly onto the riverbank. Tortosa is also crossed by the modern Puente del Milenario, about twelve kilometres away, spanning 384 meters in length at a height of 22 meters above the river water.

Canal de la Derecha del Ebro and Amposta

Modern water engineering around Amposta took a decisive step forward with the construction of large-scale irrigation canals. Inaugurated in 1857, the Canal de la Derecha del Ebro was built to transport water from the Ebro River across the surrounding agricultural flatlands. The canal begins its journey at the Cherta weir, located 15 kilometers upstream from Tortosa, about twelve kilometres from the race area. Carrying a capacity of approximately 30 cubic meters per second, the main canal extends across a total length of 52 km. It flows down through Amposta before reaching its terminus in the delta town of San Jaime de Enveija. Beyond the primary channel, the surrounding irrigation network associated with the canal spans more than 300 km in total length, spreading water throughout the alluvial delta.

Along the riverbanks where swimmers gather, outdoor travelers can also explore the waterfront on foot. The long-distance GR 92 footpath follows the Mediterranean coastline and maintains an official staging point in Amposta. After completing their river laps along the Passeig del Riu, swimmers find themselves at the crossroads of centuries of river heritage, standing beside the flowing currents of the lower Ebro.