published
Water reservoirs run dry, trees and fields lack rain. In Spain and Portugal, farmers fear for their harvest.
Three decades ago, the valley in which Aceredo lay was flooded because a dam had been built there to generate electricity.
AFP
The deep water level is due to the extreme drought.
AFP
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In Spain and Portugal there is a long-lasting drought.
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In the south of Spain in particular, farmers fear for their income.
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The extreme drought makes a long-lost village reappear.
Never before has the full skeleton of Aceredo been so visible in the dead of winter. This time, all the houses in the deserted village in north-west Spain appeared during the actually wet season, instead of slumbering under the water surface of the Lindoso reservoir as usual and only sticking their roofs up in the air in summer.
Three decades ago, the valley in which Aceredo lay was flooded because a dam had been built there to generate electricity. It has never been easy for local residents, but the sight of what was once their village stirs up even stronger emotions this winter. «The whole place was full of vineyards, orange trees. It was all green. It was nice», remembers José Luis Penín. After fishing, he used to like to end the day with friends in the pub. And now? “Look at that,” says the 72-year-old, pointing to the cracked yellow ground at the reservoir. “It is so sad.”
The situation for agriculture around Aceredo and far beyond is sad and depressing. This winter, the Iberian Peninsula recorded minus records for rain. In the last three months of last year, only 35 percent of the average rainfall for the reference months from 1981 to 2010 was measured in Spain. And since the turn of the year there has been almost no rain at all.
Little hope for an early recovery
While periods of drought have always been known, experts believe that climate change has recently made the problem significantly worse. This year is extreme. According to the Spanish weather service AEMET, since the turn of the millennium there has only been one January with hardly any precipitation, namely 2005. And if the rain doesn’t set in within the next two weeks, emergency aid for agriculture is due, according to the authorities.
Weather service spokesman Rubén del Campo gives little hope for an early recovery. The below-average rainfall seen in the past six months is likely to continue over the coming weeks, he says.
A similar picture emerges in Portugal. Less than half of the average precipitation for this four-month period was measured there from October to January. At the end of January, the Portuguese weather service reported severe or extreme drought for almost half of the country.
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(DPA/fur)