Guadalupe (Spain) Explained

Guadalupe (Río Guadalupe)
Name Other:Guadalupejo
Map:SpainGuadianaBasin.png
Map Size:200
Map Alt:Guadiana basin
Source1 Location:Sierra de Villuercas,
Cáceres Province
Extremadura
Mouth Location:Garcia de Sola Dam, Guadiana
Valdecaballeros municipality, Badajoz Province
Subdivision Type1:Country
Subdivision Name1:Spain
Progression:Guadiana - Atlantic Ocean
Length:40.56km (25.2miles)
Source1 Elevation:1157m (3,796feet)
Mouth Elevation:391m (1,283feet)
Mouth Coordinates:39.2375°N -5.1494°W
River System:Guadiana

The Guadalupe or Guadalupejo river (Spanish; Castilian: Río Guadalupe) is a right hand tributary of the Guadiana, in Spain. The Francization of the toponym gave its name to the Guadeloupe island in the Caribbeans.

Course

The Guadalupe has its sources in the Sierra de Villuercas near Guadalupe, giving its name to the town, and by extension to the monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe.

It flows southwards into the Guadiana at the Garcia de Sola Dam, barely 1.5 km east of Valdecaballeros. There is an abandoned nuclear power plant, the Valdecaballeros Nuclear Power Plant, as well as a small dam near its mouth.[1]

Etymology

The name is believed to be derived from the Arabic phrase Arabic: وادي اللب|wādī al-lubb|hidden river|label=none, or "river of the core", because the river narrows down as it flows near to the town of Guadalupe.

An alternative etymological explanation, which is commonly found on the internet, states that the name may have derived from the Arabic word for 'valley' or 'river' (wadi) and the Latin word lupus, meaning 'wolf'.[2]

Another possibility is that it comes from وادي الحب, wādī al-hubb, meaning "River of Love".

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Corredor Ecológico y de Biodiversidad Río Guadalupejo . 2013-04-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130507072321/http://www.villuercas.net/castilblanco/corredor-ecologico-guadalupejo.asp . 2013-05-07 . dead .
  2. Web site: St. Louis - News - The Mexican explains why Our Lady of Guadalupe is Muslim, sorta . 2007-09-14 . 2014-12-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141208013319/http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2007-01-03/news/the-mexican-explains-why-our-lady-of-guadalupe-is-muslim-sorta/ . dead .