Guadalupe (Spain)

The Guadalupe or Guadalupejo is a river in the west of the Iberian Peninsula, a right-bank tributary of the Guadiana, which discharges into the Atlantic Ocean. Its course runs through the Spanish provinces of Cáceres and Badajoz.

Guadalupe Guadalupejo
The watershed of the Guadiana
Location
Country	Spain
Physical characteristics
Source	Pedreras de los Hollicios, near La Villuerca
• location	Guadalupe, Extremadura, Spain
• elevation	1,157 m (3,796 ft)
Mouth	Guadiana
• location	Valdecaballeros, Extremadura, Spain
• coordinates	39°14′15″N 5°8′58″W
• elevation	391 m (1,283 ft)
Length	40.56 km (25.20 mi)
Basin features
Progression	Guadiana→ Gulf of Cádiz

Course

The Guadalupe has its source in the place of Pedreras de los Hollicios, near La Villuerca.^[1]

It flows southwards into the Guadiana at the García Sola Reservoir, barely 1.5 km east of Valdecaballeros. There is an abandoned nuclear power plant, the Valdecaballeros Nuclear Power Plant, as well as a small dam near its mouth.^[2]

Etymology

The name is believed to be derived from the Arabic phrase وادي اللب, wādī al-lubb, 'hidden river', or "river of the core", because the river narrows down as it flows near to the town of Guadalupe.^{[citation needed]}

An alternative etymological explanation, which is commonly found on the internet, states that the name may have derived from the Arabic word for 'valley' or 'river' (wadi) and the Latin word lupus, meaning 'wolf'.^[3] Some find it unlikely that Arabic and Latin would be combined in this way, and suggest as an alternative the Arabic "Wadi-al-lub", signifying a river with black stones in its bed.^[4]

Another possibility is that it comes from وادي الحب, wādī al-hubb, meaning "River of Love".

The river gives its name to the town of Guadalupe, and by extension to the monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe. The Francization of the toponym gave its name to the Guadeloupe island in the Caribbean.

See also

• List of rivers of Spain