A historic brick aqueduct in Nerja on the eastern Costa del Sol has been flagged as a heritage site at risk, putting a spotlight on the real-world consequences of deferred masonry maintenance.
The Agua de Hierro aqueduct, also known as El Tablazo, has been added to Hispania Nostra’s ‘Red List’ of threatened heritage sites. The organization says the structure is progressively deteriorating, with bricks in parts of the aqueduct coming loose. It also notes that the monument lacks specific legal protection, and it is calling for steps to document and conserve the aqueduct before the damage reaches the point where its stability is compromised.
Located in the Las Mercedes area between Nerja and Maro, the aqueduct sits within a landscape shaped by agriculture, irrigation, and the sugar industry. The structure is built of plastered masonry and brick, stretches approximately 100 metres, and includes 25 semicircular arches. Hispania Nostra links it to sugar cane cultivation and the former San Joaquín de Maro factory. While definitive documentation has not survived, the association believes the aqueduct dates to the late 19th century, placing it in the 1890s and tying it to Rafael de Chaves y Manso, the sixth Marquis of Tous, during a peak period for the local sugar industry.
Hispania Nostra also warns about the setting around the aqueduct. It says property development pressure can reshape the surrounding landscape and permanently change how the structure relates to the ravine, old irrigation channels, historic paths, and farmland. Nearby, the former San Joaquín factory already sits on the Red List, and SUR previously reported on a proposal from its owners, Sociedad Azucarera Larios, to restore the sugar mill as a hotel, build nearly 500 homes, and add a golf course across roughly 250 hectares.
For mason contractors and restoration crews, stories like this underline the value of early intervention: thorough documentation, clear safety planning where loose units present falling hazards, and conservation work that respects original brick and plastered masonry. The Red List process exists to encourage collaboration among landowners, public authorities, and the public, and to keep landmarks like this example of Nerja’s water architecture from sliding into irreversible loss.
Read the full, original article from Sur in English (subscription required at source) here.