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ARCHIVED - Ghost village emerges in Spain as drought empties reservoir
The area in northern Spain was flooded in 1992
The drought situation in Spain is creeping towards crisis point as the dry weather persists throughout much of the country, soaking up what little reserves remain in the reservoirs. The shocking effects of climate change were revealed on the border between Spain and Portugal last week, when a once-submerged town reappeared like a ghost ship out of the gloom as the dam dried up to 15%.
The Aceredo village in Spain’s north-western Galicia was deliberately flooded in 1992 to create the Alto Lindoso reservoir, but what has now emerged is like a peculiar snapshot from a time long past.
“It’s as if I’m watching a movie. I have a feeling of sadness,” 65-year-old pensioner Maximino Pérez Romero, from A Coruña, said. “My feeling is that this is what will happen over the years due to drought and all that, with climate change.”
“ACEREDO EMERXE”
— Ecoloxistas en Acción Ourense (@Ecoloxistasou) November 26, 2021
SEMPRE ATOPAMOS O INTERESE DE GRANDES EMPRESAS ANTE O MALTRATO DA NATUREZA 💚
Débese á brutal diminución das augas do río, debido ao baleirado da presa de explotación #hidroeléctrica Alto-Lindoso, que é explotada pola empresa Energías de Portugal (EDP). pic.twitter.com/czytF8IGdv
Eerie drone footage clearly shows the decaying buildings, and visitors picking through the ruins have discovered a rusty car still partially intact, a drinking fountain with water streaming from its pipes and a crate of beer bottles stacked outside a cafe. Elsewhere, the supporting beams and crumbling stone walls of houses and businesses can be easily identified.
Mayor of nearby Lobios, María del Carmen Yañez, blamed the situation on the lack of rain in recent months, particularly in January, but also on what she said was “quite aggressive exploitation” by Portugal, whose government severely limited the use of water for electricity generation and irrigation from the Alto Londoso and five other dams at the beginning of February.
Tal día como hoxe, o 8 de xaneiro de 1992, pechábanse as portas do encoro portugués de Alto-Lindoso, dando lugar ao asulagamento das aldeas galegas de Aceredo, A Reloeira, Buscalque, O Bao e Lantemil. pic.twitter.com/HRQHxFEBBd
— Acontravento (@AcontraventoGz) January 8, 2022
The most recent available data show that Spain’s reservoirs are now at around 45% of their maximum capacity, and with more dry weather forecast for much of the southern half of the peninsula in the coming weeks, many communities fear that drought alerts, and ensuing rises in water supply costs, are just around the corner.
Image: @AcontraventoGz
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