The Tora brothers return home

Dehydration causes Unusual photos in Cataloniaas the Sau Swamp is nearly empty, less than 5% of its capacity.

This means that in recent months a large part of the constructions in the ancient city of Sant Roma de São have been uncovered, Almost permanently buried Since the dam and the valley dam became operational in 1963. It was only in April 1990 that the level approached this low point.

The famous church had been completely exposed for months, as had the cemetery, but the water continued to recede and reached unimaginable levels. They had never seen each other in the tank before.

Evidence of this is the appearance of the tower and other parts of the old village mill, an unmistakable sign that the water has already disappeared. Very close to the original course of the riverBecause the mill was nearby, of course.

As you can see in the picturesAnthony PrattThe building still maintains a good state of preservation, with… Almost all the fences are intacteven if there was no trace of the ceiling.

A few months ago, the tips of the towers were already visible, but this time the water lowered even further and allowed for this See details like the flower Which is still in excellent condition, in addition to the old power line that connected the mill to the small village.

In fact, in addition to grinding grains and It operates as an inn and convenience storeOne was installed at home Electric turbines Provided by lock.

The house and its small tank were so picturesque that they were featured in an edition of the sketch notes of Vanguard Under the title “The beauty of Catalonia”in 1930, when more than thirty were still missing before the place was flooded behind a dam exploiting, specifically, The gorge that started after the mill.

The Tora brothers return to the village

The mill was one of the most representative buildings of Saint Rome, along with the Romanesque bridge which is still underwater. But in the old town There were a few houses Distributed between the small town and different corners overlooking Les Guilleries.

Those who still remember her well are the brothers Ramon and Jordi Torrawho accompanied us to the place where they were born during the Civil War, in a house next to the bell tower, now in ruins, where the family settled in the 17th century as village blacksmiths.

The era of his house Almonier or Rovira or The old school and the field where they used to play Here are some of the places Ramon can still spot, even though he realizes that the passage of time and water erosion affect his work:

“The last time I came there were still walls that indicated the location of the houses well, but now I hardly know anything.”

But they say that returning to the place where they lived the first years of their lives is not a problem for them. “I am not affected by gout“It only affects me that I walked a lot among the rocks,” Jordi explains of his past as “Fumate de São”, the name by which he was known to the townspeople, because of the fog that concealed it early on. the morning.

In Sao, they worked as blacksmiths, plowed, and cut wood, and had to be schoolboys or chime The bell tower that will one day become a symbol of Catalonia's drought.

This is the report Walk through what's left of that small town: