The Spanish village of Aceredo disappeared underwater in 1992 when a Portuguese hydropower plant created the Alto Lindoso reservoir. In recent years, much of northern Spain has been suffering from a huge drought and, as a result, part of the village has been partly submerged again. Five more villages disappeared under the water boundary at the time despite residents' protests. This is not the first time the villages have reappeared from the water. The ongoing drought in this normally rainy area has caused the water level to drop to just 15 per cent of its usual level. According to the mayor of the nearby village of Lobios, the situation is a clear consequence of climate changes in recent years. But the geo-political situation, where Portugal has closed six nearby dams for the sake of irrigation and power generation, is also not contributing to the situation.
Hans Wilschut became fascinated by the desolate and dystopian character of the area. He spent about 10 days around the reservoir filming and photographing. He chose the early hours of the day to avoid the tourist streams. It resulted in several photographic works and the video work ‘Atlantis of Galicia’.