The eerie, grey remains of a ghost village that has appeared after drought has almost drained a dam on the Spanish-Portuguese border are attracting throngs of tourists.
Details of a life frozen in 1992, when the Aceredo town in Spain’s northern Galicia area was flooded to build the Alto Lindoso reservoir, are being unveiled once again, with the reservoir at 15 percent of its full.
‘It’s as if I’m watching a movie. I have a feeling of sadness’, said 65-year-old pensioner Maximino Perez Romero, from A Coruna. ‘My feeling is that this is what will happen over the years due to drought and all that, with climate change’.
Visitors spotted partially collapsed roofs, bricks and wooden debris that formerly made up doors or beams, and even a drinking fountain with water still gushing from a rusted conduit while walking on the muddy ground cracked by the drought in some parts.
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A semi-destroyed old automobile was rotting away behind a stone wall, while crates with empty beer bottles were heaped near what used to be a café. Drone footage revealed the abandoned structures.
Maria del Carmen Yanez, mayor of the bigger Lobios municipality, which includes Aceredo, blamed the situation on a lack of rain in recent months, notably in January, as well as what she called aggressive exploitation by Portugal’s power provider EDP (EDP.LS), which operates the reservoir.
The Portugal government ordered six dams, including Alto Lindoso, to reduce water consumption for energy generation and irrigation due to the worsening drought.
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