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Rowing on the River Guadalquivir in Seville.
By Chris Jones
Rowing
By its very nature, this is an inland waterway sport and is immensely popular along the River Guadalquivir, especially in Córdoba and Sevilla. It is mainly practiced on wide stretches of water, hence the popularity of the Guadalquivir, but can also be found inland on lakes and reservoirs. Many of the latter have rowing boats available for hire by the hour, whereas on the rivers rowing tends to be the preserve of more serious, professional or skilled amateur oarsmen and women belonging to specialist clubs.
Anyone who can demonstrate sufficient skill levels can often join one of these clubs on a temporary basis and row in a full eight, a four or a double skiff. Single skiffs are, on occasions, available for hire, although it is obviously necessary to be able to prove due competence.
Further information is available from the Instituto Andaluz del Deporte (the Andalusian Sports Institute), or the Federacion Andaluza de Remo (the Andalusian Rowing Federation).
Canoeing
Much as rowing, canoeing tends to be an inland sport, although it is possible to take a craft out on to the Mediterranean, keeping within clearly defined parameters of safety, such as distance offshore, knowledge of wayward sea currents and wind strengths.
Again, anyone wishing to hire a canoe from one of the centres dotted right along the coast, from Huelva to Almería, will have to convince the hire operator that they have the ability to handle the craft competently. Anyone, for example, should now how to right a canoe that has turned turtle and, needless to say, the ability to swim is absolutely essential.
There also exists the possibility to take part in exciting canoeing on one of the fast-flowing inland waterways in the hills behind the coast. This is always carried out under the watchful eye of staff from one of the existing operators, as it presents far more danger than pottering about on the placid waters of a lake or reservoir.
There are marinas inland, at Sevilla and Gelves, that support sailing in the River Guadalquivir near its mouth at the Doñana National Park. There are also boating facilities near the source of the Guadalquivir in Tranco de Beas Reservoir in the Nature Park of Cazorla, Segura (Jaén province), and also at Las Villas. There are similar facilities on the Iznájar Reservoir that covers parts of three provinces - Córdoba, Málaga and Granada.
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