Drought - current state, impact on society, and sunken towns emerging

Heavy rain and occasional drought are a common feature of Mediterranean weather, but the picture is looking quite worrying in 2022, with water levels in reservoirs at 37 percent, according to the Catalan Water Agency, and consistently dropping over the past months. 

Alejandra Angulo Alonso is joined by Guifré Jordan and Cillian Shields to discuss the widespread impacts of the drought in Catalonia. We visit Sant Romà de Sau, where an 11th-century church, usually hidden by the Sau reservoir, has emerged from the water, attracting tourists and curious locals. We also speak with Àngel Font, a former resident of the old village now reappearing above the water.

This week's Catalan phrase is actually a tongue twister – ‘Plou poc, però pel poc que plou, plou prou’, which means, “It rains little, but for the little bit that it rains, it rains enough.”