A Forgotten Spanish Village is Re-Emerging After Decades Underwater

Culture + LifestyleA Forgotten Spanish Village is Re-Emerging After Decades UnderwaterAceredo was sunk beneath the surface of a reservoir that is slowly emptying courtesy of drought and tourists are flocking to see itFebruary 14, 2022Image may contain Nature Outdoors Water Landscape Scenery Vehicle Transportation Train Building and WaterfrontFor the last three decades, the Spanish village of Aceredo has been deeply submerged underwater in the Lindoso reservoir. With extreme drought plaguing the region, though, the town is slowly reappearing. Photo: Miguel Riopa/Getty Images

With loosening restrictions, the world is eager to explore other territories—and, as of last week, travel to Spain is way up for a very specific reason: Aceredo, a small town on the Spanish-Portuguese border that was buried beneath gallons of water for the last several decades, is finally re-emerging, revealing eerie ruins that have tourists flocking. What’s more, the reappearance of the town was completely accidental. In 1992, the local government built a reservoir that flooded the town and its collection of modest homes and delectable cafés, and now, exactly 30 years later, Spain’s Galicia region is suffering from intense droughts that are wreaking havoc on the region. The Alto Lindoso reservoir that took over the city is functioning at only 15%, leaving the formerly romantic, forest-adjacent city exposed for all to see.

Image may contain Nature Demolition Animal and BirdThough most of the homes are nothing but crumbs, several of the 70 or so stone-built houses still have walls intact.Photo: Miguel Riopa/Getty Images 

The mayor of the larger Lobios council, María del Carmen Yáñez, blamed the deteriorating situation on both climate change, an obvious cause, and Portugal’s power utility EDP, which manages the emptying reservoir. Perhaps both are to blame, but Portugal certainly isn’t helping the situation: On the first day of February, Portugal’s government basically closed six nearby dams (including Alto Lindoso) to use the energy for electricity and irrigation—both of which have been massively impacted by the drought, which is only getting worse with climate change–related events.

Aceredo may even be the first of several towns that, with time, may accidentally reappear due to a worsening drought throughout the area: The country’s reservoirs are functioning at just 44% of their capacity, which is significantly below the average of over 61%. In fact, over the last several years, quite a few quaint European towns are coming out of the woodwork, reminding the world that they exist. In Turkey, Burj Al Babas, a development complete with 732 Disney-like mini castles, gave people both an excuse and a reason to visit Mudurnu, which, until the $200 million project kicked off in the mid-2010s, had been largely abandoned. Something similar happened in ​​the nearly forgotten-about Legrad, Croatia, where homes were priced at just 16 cents each.

Image may contain Landscape Outdoors Nature Scenery Aerial View Spire Architecture Tower Steeple and BuildingThe Sarot Group’s Burj Al Babas project consists of more than 700 mini castles in Mudurnu, Turkey.Photo: Adem Altan/Getty Images

Unlike its neighbors to the east, however, Aceredo isn’t exactly looking to offer people an incentive to spend more time in the city that a Portuguese hydroelectric plant essentially drowned in the early 1990s. And the families who lived there and were forced to abandon their homes and businesses aren’t rushing back as fast as the first-time visitors who want to travel to Spain—mostly foreigners—eager to sneak a peek at the skeletal remains of a once flourishing Spanish city that has since become a quite literal ghost town.

The photos, which were captured by a drone, revealed an unexpected truth: Aceredo’s residents left in a hurry. From a rusted, highly deteriorated fountain still spewing fresh water to wood crates of empty beer bottles stacked against the wall of a former café, everyday happenings were in full swing. Now, it’s nothing but an architectural haunted house for those who want a glimpse of the once charming Spanish village whose fate is relatively unknown. Now that the reservoir is losing more water and climate change isn’t exactly headed towards its end, visitors can’t help but wonder: Will Aceredo and towns like it thrive once more?

Image may contain Nature Water Outdoors and ReservoirMany of the homes’s roofs are peeking above the surface of the water.Photo: Octavio Passos/Getty Images

As of now, its future remains to be seen—literally—since most of it is still submerged beneath what’s left of the reservoir, but those stopping by to snap a few photos are thrilled at its reappearance. Whether it remains as it is, a sleepy village that could work as the backdrop of a psychological thriller, or gets rebuilt as a beautiful lakeside town is up for debate, but its future is decided: Aceredo is just one of many forgotten-about European towns that’s back in a big way.


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Originally posted on: https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/spanish-sunken-village