Aguas Termales

Spain's aguas termales — thermal mineral waters — are among the most abundant in Europe, distributed from the geothermally active Galician interior in the northwest to the volcanic Canary Islands in the south and the Catalan Pyrenees in the northeast, with Ourense province alone possessing more thermal springs than any other region on the Iberian Peninsula. The country's thermal spring heritage reflects the extraordinary geological diversity of the Iberian basement, where Hercynian granites, Mesozoic sedimentary basins, Tertiary volcanic systems, and Alpine fold belts create a mosaic of hydrothermal environments that has supported bathing culture from prehistoric times through Roman occupation to the golden age of nineteenth-century hydrotherapy. This sulfurous thermal spring continues Spain's long tradition of using naturally mineralized sulfurous waters for skin, respiratory, and musculoskeletal therapeutic applications.