El Burguillo is the oldest big reservoir in Spain — 1913, on the Alberche between the granite shoulders of Gredos — and it has had over a century to bed into the landscape. It built a reputation as a black-bass water, though that fishing has faded; what endures, and what brings the fly fisher down from Madrid, is the barbel. On a warm day they cruise the rocky margins and the shallow tails in good numbers, and there is a small but real fly-fishing scene built around catching them on a sighted nymph or beetle. Carp share the flats; boga and the odd Alberche trout drift through. The bass, pike and zander are all introduced and best treated as part of the scenery rather than the plan. A proper warm-water day out within reach of the capital.

• Reservoir
• Granite