Lobios (in Galician; es, Lovios) is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the province of Ourense in the Galicia

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

of north-west

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, bordering Portugal to the south. The estimated population in 2021 was 1,672.

Drowned villages

The village of Aceredo ( :gl:Aceredo (solagado)) lies within the municipality, but in 1992 it, along with the villages of :gl:Buscalque,

O Vao O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), plu ...

, A Reloeira and :gl:Lantemil, which together had 250 residents, was drowned by the reservoir behind the Alto Lindoso Dam downstream on the Limia River in Portugal. On 15 August 1991 the land was compulsorily acquired by Portuguese company EDP (

Electricidade de Portugal EDP - Energias de Portugal (formerly Electricidade de Portugal) is a Portuguese electric utilities company, headquartered in Lisbon. It was founded in 1976 through the merger of 14 nationalised electricity companies. History EDP was founded as ' ...

), based on an old deal between Spanish dictator

General Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 193 ...

and former Prime Minister of Portugal Salazar. Residents of all of the villages, supported by left-leaning political parties, immediately began protests against the building of the dam, including a 10-day

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

. In the end, with no option but to move, the residents of Aceredo (with 70 houses and 120 citizens) relocated bodies of their deceased loved ones, and an historic church was moved to a different town. Some moved to nearby villages, while others moved far away. In 2015 a

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

about the drowning of Aceredo and Buscalque was released, called (''The Drowned Days''). After prolonged drought in the region in early 2022, the water in the reservoir receded dramatically back to 15% of its capacity, and the " ghost village" once more became visible on dry land. The derelict village became a tourist attraction and made news across the world. , stone buildings are still visible, as well as debris that once made up roofs, doors and beams, and there is a

drinking fountain A drinking fountain, also called a water fountain or water bubbler, is a fountain designed to provide drinking water. It consists of a basin with either continuously running water or a tap. The drinker bends down to the stream of water and s ...

which streams with water, crates of old beer bottles next to an old cafe, and a rusty old car. The mayor of Lobios, Maria del Carmen Yanez, said in February 2022 that Portugal's power utility EDP, which manages the

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

, had not managed the use of the water well. On 1 February 2022, after a particularly dry January, the

Portuguese Government , border = Central , image = , caption = , date = , state = Portuguese Republic , address = Official Residence of the Prime Minister Estrela, Lisbon , appointed = President ...

ordered that Alto Lindoso, along with five other dams, to almost cease using water to generate electricity and for irrigating crops. Experts have said that

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

caused the extreme drought. Spain recorded only 35 per cent of its average rainfall during the same period over the years 1981 to 2010, and there had been no rain at all in 2022 up until mid-February.

References

Municipalities in the Province of Ourense {{Galicia-geo-stub

Drowned villages

See also

References