With the reservoir at 15% of its capacity, details of a life
frozen in 1992, when the Aceredo village in Spain's northwestern 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 that 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. Drone
footage showed the derelict buildings. 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 worsening drought. EDP had no immediate comment when contacted by Reuters. Questions over the sustainability of reservoirs are not new.
Last year, several Spanish villages complained about how power utilities used
them after a rapid draw-down from a lake by Iberdrola in western Spain. The
company said it was following the rules. Environment Ministry data shows Spain's reservoirs are at
44% of their capacity, well below the average of about 61% over the last
decade, but still above levels registered in a 2018 drought. A ministry source
said drought indicators showed a potential worsening in the coming weeks, but
did not yet detect a generalised problem throughout the country. Jose Alvarez, a former construction worker from Lobios, felt
a mix of nostalgia and fatalism at he remembered his working days in Aceredo. "It's terrible, but it is what it is. That's life. Some
die and others live," he said.