The Tajo de la Encantada Power Plant, as we know it today, was completed in 1978. Located at the mouth of the Tajo de la Encantada gorge in El Chorro, the hydroelectric company has built one of the largest reversible hydroelectric power plants in Spain, the Encantada Dam. There are only eight such plants in all of Spain, and just one in Andalusia: the Guillena plant in Seville.
The Tajo de la Encantada hydroelectric power station, known to everyone as El Chorro, has some peculiarities that make it special among those in the province of Malaga.
The upper reservoir of this waterfall is located at the Villaverde Dam, where the ruins of Bobastro.
Villaverde Dam 
Villaverde Dam 
Villaverde Dam
Built below water level with a height equivalent to a 15-story building, this power plant uses a constant volume of water, pumping it between the lower and upper reservoirs. Its purpose is to generate electricity during peak hours by using the water in the upper reservoir to create turbines. Conversely, when consumption decreases, to avoid overloading the grid, water from the Tajo de la Encantada Reservoir is pumped to the upper reservoir, resulting in electricity consumption. The two reservoirs are connected by a pipeline through which the pumped water flows in either direction.
To guarantee electricity production even in drought years, the El Chorro Reservoir was built on the Turón River in 1920. Downstream, the Gaitanejo Reservoir was completed in 1927 to also regulate the flow of the Guadalteba and Guadalhorce Rivers. On May 21, 1921, King Alfonso XIII laid the final stone of the El Chorro Reservoir and traveled along the Balconcillos Road to the town of El Chorro. From then on it was called Caminito del Rey. For his work, the King granted Rafael de Benjumea the title of Count of Guadalhorce. Since 1953, the first reservoir has borne this name.
El Chorro Reservoir 
Tajo de la Encantada Dam 
Tajo de la Encantada Dam
Endesa Investment
A few years ago, ENDESA invested around €150.000 in the technological improvement of the facility, which is one of the 8 in Spain that operate in pumping mode, being the first in power in Andalusia.
This power plant currently provides more than 120 jobs in the region, operates for more than 8.000 hours per year and has about 1700 start-ups per year.
