Embalse de Eugui, Spanish reservoir

The Embalse de Eugui is a reservoir on the upper Arga river beside the village of Eugi in the Esteribar valley, 26 km north of Pamplona. Built between 1968 and 1973, it flooded 123 hectares of farmland and farmsteads. The water is bordered by beech woods and the Kinto forest.

Construction began in 1966 and the reservoir entered service in 1970, built at the head of the Arga river beside Eugi to supply Pamplona. The rising water covered 123 hectares of fields and farmsteads, along with 14 farmhouses and huts, a bakery, the hydroelectric plant in the old mill, the Guardia Civil barracks and a guard post.

The name comes from the village of Eugi, nestled in a Pyrenean valley. Local culture is deeply connected to bertsolarismo, a tradition of improvised singing in Basque that has been performed in these hills for generations.

The reservoir supplies drinking water to Pamplona and its region, so swimming and boating are not allowed; the water is treated at the Urtasun plant. It lies in the lower part of Eugi, 26 km north of Pamplona, in the upper Arga valley beside the Kinto woodland and beech woods. Access is by road from Eugi.

Beneath the water lie the remains of old buildings, including the birthplace of the renowned bertsolari Urbano Egozkue Gaskue. These submerged structures remind visitors of the human story that preceded this transformed landscape.