The ruins of an ancient village have resurfaced in Spain, a remarkable situation for this time of year. The drone images shared by the Catalan News Agency on February 1st show the dwellings belonging to the municipality of Saint Romà de Sau, as well as its 11th-century church, completely reappearing.
This building is used as an indicator of the level of drought in the region. When only the tip of the church steeple appears, the Sau reservoir is full.
But when the building is fully exposed, it indicates an alarming water shortage. It is the second largest in terms of capacity and usually supplies water to six million people.
According to [source], it is currently only filled to 4.7% of its capacity. Such a low level has never been observed since its creation 60 years ago.
“We can therefore say that we are entering uncharted territory,” worries Javier Martin Vide, a geography professor at the University of Barcelona, in *El Confidencial*. The city of Barcelona and its outskirts have been placed under a “state of emergency” due to drought since February 1st.
Water consumption restrictions have been imposed on the 6 million inhabitants of the region. These restrictions also affect the industrial and agricultural sectors.