Ghost village emerges as drought dries out reservoir

SPAIN • A ghost village that has emerged as drought nearly emptied a dam on the Spanish-Portuguese border is drawing crowds of tourists with its eerie, grey ruins.

With the reservoir at 15 per cent of its capacity, details of a life frozen in 1992, when the Aceredo village in Spain's north-western Galicia region was flooded to create the Alto Lindoso reservoir, are being revealed once more.

"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 this is what will happen over the years due to drought and all that, with climate change."

Walking on the muddy ground cracked by the drought in some spots, visitors found partially collapsed roofs, bricks and wooden debris that once made up doors or beams, and even a drinking fountain with water still streaming from a rusty pipe.

Crates with empty beer bottles were stacked by what used to be a cafe, and a semi-destroyed old car was rusting away by a stone wall.

Ms Maria del Carmen Yanez, mayor of the larger Lobios council of which Aceredo is part, 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's power utility EDP, which manages the reservoir.

On Feb 1, Portugal's government ordered six dams, including Alto Lindoso, to nearly halt water use for electricity production and irrigation, due to the drought.

Contacted by Reuters, EDP said the low reservoir levels were due to the drought, but that it was managing water resources "efficiently" and that these were above the minimum requirements, including for Alto Lindoso.

REUTERS