Lobios is a

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

in the province of Ourense, in the autonomous community of Galicia,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It belongs to the

comarca A ''comarca'' (, , , ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain, and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, mark ...

of A Baixa Limia. The estimated population in 2021 was 1,672. The town borders

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

to the south.

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, 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), based on an old deal between Spanish dictator General Franco 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 where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...

. 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 (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

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 A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

" 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 (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

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

Portuguese Government Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

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 Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

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