Roman dam of Esparragalejo (Charca Grande)

The structure, which holds back the water of the Albuera stream, is 320 m long, 5.6 m high and 2.2 m thick at the base. Its outer face was originally reinforced by 13 buttresses, spaced roughly 8.6 m apart and joined by arches — a structurally advanced design that anticipates solutions used centuries later in medieval and early modern hydraulic architecture.

Its purpose was to supply water to a Roman military camp at Esparragalejo, from where an aqueduct carried the water to the settlement; barely any trace of that conduit remains. According to local tradition and the historical sources, the dam also had a stone mill set in the middle of the wall, used for grinding grain.

The dam has been in almost uninterrupted use to this day. It has been repaired several times over the centuries, most recently in 1959 under the Badajoz Plan, which considerably changed its original appearance by wrapping the Roman work in a modern construction. The reservoir's present capacity is about 1,970 m³.

The surroundings of the Charca Grande are today also a place of natural and birdwatching interest.