Aceredo, Europe Brief News – The Lindoso reservoir in northwestern Spain is usually pretty much filled with water and even sometimes water climbs off the roof.
On the other side, in dry years the parts of old village Acerdo appear which were submerged 30 years ago when a hydropower dam flooded the valley.
It is the very first time that residents of the city are witnessing the skeleton of the village appear in its entirety in the middle of the wet winter season.
There has been no rain for almost two months and the weather forecast is not promising for the weeks to come. The ruins of Acerdo are dredging up mixed emotions from locals as it reminds them of the good old days of the old village.
Jose Luis penin, who used to stay at the bar in the old village with her friends said “ The whole place used to be all vineyards and orange trees. It was all green, it was beautiful”.
This year has been full of surprises for the residents of the city as they have recorded low or almost no rain during the whole season. Farmers are being worried who have tasks in hand to produce crops for the whole of Europe.
The farmers believe that there are high chances that the crops for the season may be fully ruined.
Weather forecast agencies have their say on the current situation
The weather Agency AEMET suggests “ In this century , only 2005 has there been a January with almost no rain. If clouds do not unleash in the next two weeks, emergency subsidies for farmers will be needed”.
Ruben del Campo, a spokesman for weather services gives relatively better insights on how the future looks like. The below average rainfall will continue for several more weeks. Though, spring can bring a change of fortune for the city.
The leading association of farmers and livestock breeders in Spain, CAOG warns if it does not rain heavily in the coming months, rain fed crops including cereals , nuts and vineyards could potentially lose 60%-80% of its production.
Portugal is also finding themselves in a similar situation with almost no rain since last October. As January reaches toward the end, 45% of the country is in danger of facing extreme drought conditions.
According to IPMA reports, Portugal has experienced a rise in the frequency of the drought in the past 20-30 years which itself is threatening.
