It was built at the end of the XVI century at Tibi (Alicante) as part of a plan to encourage visitors to the area and to develop local agriculture.

It’s located only 18 kilometres to the north east of Alicante, and at 46 metres, it was the highest in the world for 300 years, taking advantage of the scarce water of the River Monnegre.

It was a miller called Pere Esquerdo, and a mason named Miguel Alcaraz who first had the idea to build the dam, which was constructed with the help of the royal engineers of King Felipe II.

The first stone was laid in 1580 and the work continued on and off for 14 years with continual financial problems, which led to the dam only reaching 46 metres instead of the originally planned 52. The dam is 65 metres in length.

In 1697 the dam broke and was unused until 1736.

The reservoir provides water for the crops of Alicante, Mutxamel and Sant Joan d’Alacant.