Why was Puigcerdà left in the dark in winter?

Fed by the Puigcerdà irrigation canal—also known as the International Canal—which draws water from the Querol River, the lake in the capital of Cerdanya has been a major water reservoir, essential for irrigation and for cleaning the municipality's irrigation ditches and sewers. However, these functions have become secondary: the lake is increasingly, let's say, decorative.

The lake's water has also been useful for fighting fires and extracting ice. In the past, in winter, the ice was cut into rectangular blocks and stored in the ice pit near the lake, which disappeared when a new road was built. What a shame.

The pond water was also used to clear snow from the streets when they froze, and leaving the house could mean a broken leg or arm. The ice was crushed and dumped into the gutters. Water was then poured from the pond, which washed away the ice chunks. The pond mud was also used as fertilizer, and the sand was used for construction.

Enric Quílez, a computer scientist and passionate about the history of Puigcerdà, explains all this to me in detail as we circle the lake, admiring luxurious villas in ochre and maroon colors.

Several beasts are the protagonists of the lake park, which bears the name of its promoter – who is also the one who gave its land–German Schierbeck, who was the Danish consul in Barcelona. There are, among others, squirrels that jump from branch to branch, swans, and ducks (jerks, in the local language). They say here that ducks have a very bad temper. And a very good memory! If you bother a duck one day and come back the next, it still remembers and chases you. Just in case, I don't get too close.

"Puigcerdá was against the Carlists. As the winners were the liberals, this gave her a series of privileges; thus, she received the titles ofheroic and always undefeated. On the other hand, boys born in Puigcerdà could do their military service here, they weren't sent far away," Enric explains to me. And then he shows me a photograph on his mobile phone. It's an image lovely for a long time from the pond with a pole in the center of the lake, from which a series of threads with light bulbs come out to the trees that surround it.

We're standing before a huge sequoia, which has been topped so its roots wouldn't damage the house next door. "Puigcerdà became a summer resort at the end of the 19th century. Most of the mansions are built around the lake, the highest point in the town," Enric comments as we pass by a tower with a garden. I'm struck by the fact that there's a small patch of grass, yet an automatic lawnmower is doing its job.

One of the first prominent men to spend the summer was Dr. Andreu – a pharmacist and famous for "Doctor Andreu's pills."–Among those who frequented Puigcerdà between the late 19th and early 20th centuries (until the Civil War), the most notable were the writers Narcís Oller and Jacint Verdaguer, the painter Santiago Rusiñol, the musicians Isaac Albéniz and Enric Granados, and the architect Antoni Gaudí. If you stroll through the center, you will find a plaque that reads: "The architect Antoni Gaudí recovered his health here at the Hotel Europa in the summer of 1911, inspiring him to paint the Passion façade of the expiatory temple of the Sagrada Familia."

The arrival of the train to Puigcerdá in 1922 helped the summer resort grow. Today, it takes the same amount of time—or even longer.– from Barcelona to Puigcerdá than when it started to circulate.

We now pass by one of the hotels surrounding the lake. They didn't think twice about naming it: it's called Hotel del Lago. The original building was destroyed by fire, and they had to rebuild it. Next, we stop in front of a mansion that houses the Municipal Music School, named after Issi Fabra. In front of this school, there is a sculpture dedicated to Ortega Monasterio, now under fire for some of his actions that are difficult to prove. Here, in Puigcerdà, far from the sea, is where he wrote the habanera. My grandfather.

This lake is an ideal place for walking, reading... (you don't need to bring your book from home: in the park there is a small wooden house that houses an extension of the library: the Bibliollac). And for sports! It has been done on many occasions. In the middle of winter, in 1956, an ice hockey game was played. "To confirm that the ice would hold, before the game an ox cart was rolled over it," Enric explains.

The frozen lake converted into a sports rink... What a privilege! But it wasn't all advantages. In the early days of electricity, a small hydroelectric power plant was built using water from the lake. The problem was that in winter, if the lake was frozen, the plant would stop working and Puigcerdà would be left in the dark.

With Enric, we went to the small building where the plant was located. We take a short stretch of a small road leading to France, which descends quite a bit—here I realize that Puigcerdà is located at the top of a hill, which gives its name to the municipality—and after a dirt road, we reach this stone building, now inhabited. It's not worth the trip. But I do recommend returning for the lake, a place steeped in history and stories.