Residents of the village of Aceredo in western Spain, near the border with Portugal, had to leave their homes in 1992, when the city was flooded by the Alto Lindoso dam built the same year.
Since then, the village has been like sunk into the ground.
FLOODED: The village of Aceredo was flooded by the Alto Lindoso dam in 1992. Photo: NTB / REUTERS / Miguel Vidal
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Now, almost 30 years since the city was flooded, it is appearing again. This is because the water level has dropped to 15 percent of the reservoir’s full capacity as a result of weather changes.
– Sad
Pictures from the village show the empty ruins.
– It’s like watching a movie. I have a feeling of sadness. I have a feeling that this will happen every single year in the future due to drought and climate change, says Maximino Pérez Romero, who visits the area, according to Reuters.
RUINS: Pictures from the site show empty ruins in the village. Photo: NTB / REUTERS / Miguel Vidal REFILE – QUALITY REPEAT
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Four other villages were also flooded at the same time as Aceredo.
Jose Alvarez, who used to work as a construction worker in the village, also tells Reuters that he feels nostalgia when he thinks back.
– It’s cruel, that’s it. That’s life. Some die and some survive, he says.
The town’s old church from the 18th century was among the buildings that were moved to another village before the flood, writes Danish TV 2.
Points to cause
ABANDONED: The wreckage of a car is depicted near the ruins of the abandoned village. Photo: NTB / MIGUEL RIOPA / AFP
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Mayor María del Carmen Yañez of the Spanish municipality of Lobios points to the lack of rain in recent months as the reason for the low water level in the water reservoir.
The Portuguese power company EDP, which owns the reservoir, is also partly to blame for the mayor. She believes they have been too aggressive in tapping water to supply power.
On February 1, Portuguese authorities ordered a halt to electricity production at six dams, including the Alto Lindoso dam, due to water shortages and droughts.
Unusual drought
DRY: The lack of rain in recent months, and especially in January, is pointed out as a possible cause of the low water level in the reservoir. Photo: NTB / REUTERS / Miguel Vidal
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The drought in Portugal and Spain is extraordinary, both in extent and in time, says climate scientist Ricardo Deus from Portugal’s meteorological agency IPMA to the news agency AFP.
The reservoirs in 24 of the country’s 55 dams are below half capacity, writes NTB. Five of them hold less than a fifth. Earlier in February, Portugal closed five hydropower plants to save water for human consumption.
Spain received only a quarter of the precipitation they usually receive in January, according to the weather service AEMET. The water reservoirs are less than 45 percent on a national basis.
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