The Imperial Canal of Aragon is a civil engineering achievement of the highest order. Built in the 18th century, it aimed to provide irrigation water for lands to the southeast and above the level of the River Ebro, as well as a means of navigation linking Aragon to the sea. But some important citizens of Zaragoza did not support the building of the canal, due to the social changes it could bring about in the agrarian community. They openly expressed disbelief that it would ever reach the city. When the…