Costa News Spain Breaking News | English News in Spain.
THE incredible turnaround in Spain’s struggling reservoir levels has been captured in stunning ‘before and after’ shots.
Costa del Sol local Francisco Ruiz (@Francis46309660) captured images of the Limonero reservoir that supplies drinking water to Malaga city taken ten months apart – and the transformation is incredible.
After receiving seven million litres, the lake has gone from 9% to 41%.
When the ‘before’ photo was taken in July last year, Limonero was standing around 18% full, indicating that the pair of photos, stunning as they are, do not fully capture the remarkable recovery.
Photographer Jesus Gutierrez took two photos, three months apart, of the Ponton de la Oliva Reservoir, just north of Madrid and on the border between Guadalajara.
Images show a lush green valley that has been transformed into a lake just metres away from the dam.
The two images of the before-and after show how Spain’s reservoirs are thriving, with the drought-stricken Andalucia experiencing a 43% increase in rainfall over the last week.
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Lake Vinuela near Malaga is 22% full. It was 7.8% last year. Casasola Reservoir, also near Malaga almost doubled its size in one year.
Some reservoirs are forced to release the water even before forecasts of more rain, due to their lack of facilities to transfer it to other lakes.
Both the Conde de Guadalhorce reservoir and La Concepcion had to open their emergency valves after they were around 90% full over the weekend.
A new water pipeline, which will allow the transfer of the Gibralmedina Reservoir overflow to Campo de Gibraltar, was inaugurated this week.
READ MORE: Watch: Flood chaos on Spain’s Costa del Sol after night of heavy rain – with DAYS of showers to come
Storm Konrad will be the latest weather front to strike Spain over the coming days, with further rain expected.
Forecasters warn that rainfall in some areas may exceed 150mm over the next few days, particularly around the Strait of Gibraltar or the Sierra de Grazalema.
A new storm system from the southwest is expected to arrive on Monday and bring renewed rain from west to eastern.
This is part of the battle between air masses in Europe that has caused western Europe to be cold and rainy, while eastern Europe is enjoying an early summer.
Taken as a dividing line between Germany and Italy, the countries in the east such as Greece and Romania are enjoying temperatures up to 10C higher than normal for this time of the year.
