Minho (river)

The Minho or Miño (Miniu) is the longest river in Galicia, with a length of 340 km. It forms part of the international border between Spain and Portugal. By discharge volume, it is the fourth largest river of the Iberian peninsula after the Douro, Ebro, and Tagus rivers.

The Minho waters vineyards and farmland and is used to produce hydroelectric power. It also delineates a section of the Spanish–Portuguese border. In ancient English maps, it appears as Minno.

The source of the Minho lies north of Lugo in Galicia, in a place called Pedregal de Irimia. After about 73 km, the river passes just south of the walls of this old Roman city, discharging in average 42 m3/s, and flows south through canyons until the valley widens north of Ourense. The river has been harnessed in reservoirs from Portomarín to Frieira. Along its length, it has the following reservoirs: Belesar with 654 hm3, Peares with182 hm3, Velle with17 hm3, Castrelo with,60 hm3 and Frieira with 44 hm3.

About 20 km north of Ourense at Os Peares, the Minho, with a discharge of 102 m3/s, receives the waters of its main tributary, the Sil, with 184 m3/s. Passing Ourense, there is one major dam at Frieira near the town of Ribadavia, which is famous for its Ribeiro DOP wine (called after the name of the region). There, the Minho averages 316 m3/s of discharge. Later on, the river flows in a southwest direction until reaching the Portuguese border near Melgaço.

After 260 km through Galicia, the Minho sets the border with Portugal for about 80 km, mainly towards the west. The valley is a lush, green agricultural area where the land is used to produce corn, potatoes, cabbage, even kiwi fruit, or just grass, depending on the time of year, and everywhere, edging the fields, rivers, and gardens, wherever there is space, are the vines that produce the light, slightly sparkling "Vinho Verde" and the Ribeiro wine, both peculiar to this area. The very best of these wines, Alvarinho in Portuguese or Albariño in Spanish and Galician, is produced in the area around Monção, Arbo, and Melgaço.

Passing the medieval towns of Melgaço and Monção, the Minho divides the Spanish Tui and Portuguese Valença do Minho, towns that guarded an important bridge for road and rail. Both towns preserve fortifications and are national monuments. The Minho reaches the Atlantic between the Galician A Guarda and the Portuguese Caminha, with an average discharge of 420 m3/s.

Geography
The river begins in the Pedregal de Irimia of the Sierra de Meira, about 695 m above sea level, in the northeast of the province of Lugo, where it flows through the town of Meira and reaches the lagoon Fonminhá in the municipality of A Pastoriza. The lagoon was historically (and wrongly) regarded as the source of the Minho. The river flows through the Galician massif, the Cantabrian Mountain range and the mountains of Leon, two of the rainiest areas of the Iberian Peninsula.

The upper course has been declared a Biosphere Reserve. The first 40 mi cross the plateau of Lugo (Terrachá), a peneplain whose elevation ranges from 450 to 650 m above the sea level.

The main tributaries are the Sil, Neira, Avia, Barbantiño, Búbal, Arnoya rivers.



Etymology
According to E. Bascuas, "Miño", registered as Minius and Mineus, is a form belonging to the old European hydronymy and derived from the Indo-European root *mei- 'walk, go'.

Legends, traditions and superstitions
Oral tradition contains stories telling of Galician mythological characters living in the basin of the Rio Minho, such as feiticeiras (witches) who lived in the river, the Xarcos who dwelt in wells located throughout the watershed, and fish-men who were amphibious with the possibility of living both on land and in water.

Right

 * Pontevedra
 * Río Tamuxe (also called Carballas, Carballo or Carvallo)
 * Río Pego
 * Río Cereixo da Brinha
 * Río Furnia (also called Forcadela)
 * Río Louro
 * Río Caselas
 * Río Tea
 * Río Uma
 * Río Deva (there is another Deva River on the left bank)
 * Río Ribadil
 * Río Cea
 * Ourense
 * Río Avia
 * Río Barbantiño
 * Río Bubal
 * Lugo
 * Río Asma
 * Río Narón
 * Río Ferreira
 * Río Mera
 * Río Narla
 * Río Ladra
 * Río Támoga
 * Río Anllo

Left

 * Portugal
 * Rio Mouro
 * Rio Gadanha
 * Rio Coura
 * Ourense
 * Río Deva
 * Río Arnoia
 * Río Barbaña
 * Río Lonia
 * Sil River
 * Lugo
 * Río Sardiñeira
 * Río Loio
 * Río Neira
 * Río Chamoso
 * Río Robra (also called río Santa Marta)
 * Río Lea
 * Río Azúmar