During the final two decades of the 18th century, Villafranca was punished by Nature with a series of intermittent floods. The most repeated were those that occurred as a result of the overflowing of the Amarguillo River.
It became necessary to divert the Riato and consequent drying of this channel that ran through the center of the town. According to a project by Francisco Sostre (surveyor of the Order of San Juan) endorsed and approved by Juan de Villanueva (royal architect), an alternative channel would be opened to the south, at a certain distance from the urban center, excavating it from the hermitage of San Antón to that of San Blas and beyond to the drain (beginning of the Ollas road), at the same time that a shoulder or pier would be formed to save the town.
The Malecón was an effective dam to contain the overflowing waters of the Amarguillo and saved many lives, leaving the destructive floods in memory. Construction began in 1802.