Lobios (in Galician; es, Lovios) is a municipality in the province of

Ourense Ourense (; es, Orense ) is a city and capital of the province of Ourense, located in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, northwestern Spain. It is on the Camino Sanabrés path of the Way of St ...

in the

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

region of north-west Spain, 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 Alto Lindoso Dam ( pt, Barragem do Alto Lindoso, links=no) is a concrete double curvature arch dam on the Lima River. It is located in the municipality Ponte da Barca, in Viana do Castelo District, Portugal. The dam lies in Peneda-Gerês National ...

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 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. 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 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 Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

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