A hiker crosses a hill in the desert of Tabernas (southeast Spain), the driest area in Europe. Tabernas, May 2019.
Greenhouse fields in southern Spain, also known as ‘Mar de Plástico’ (Sea of Plastic), in the province of Almeria. Around the vicinities of Adra gates hide, not just hectares of greenhouses, but dying lands affected by waste pollution and chemicals. The agroindustrial complex was born in the 60's, during Franco's autarky. Almost sixty years later, this territory of Southern Spain has become the largest greenhouse in the world. The unsustainable invasion of greenhouses has expanded to exceed more than 30,000 hectares of Mediterranean nature. Adra, July 2021.
Dynamite explodes and the dust invades Alcover's mountain. A quarry in southern Catalonia. Alcover, March 2021.
A lost door hit by torrential rains in Southern Catalonia. Contrary to what most people might believe, heavy rainfall can erode soil itself and cause waterlogging, subsidence and consequently desertification. Cases d'Alcanar, September 2021.
In Tabernas, the only desert in Europe, are the authentic westerns scenarios, turned into a Mediterranean Theme Park. Tabernas, June 2021.
From Alger to Almeria. Migrant farm workers in southern Spain suffer appalling conditions in ‘Mar de Plástico’ to supply fruit and vegetables to the European Union. San Juan de los Terreros, August 2020.
Floods and torrential raining are a major cause of the increasing impact of land degradation in Spain. In the picture, a football field from southeastern Spain affected by torrential rains. Benferri, September 2019.
The interior of a restaurant destroyed by torrential rains in late summer. Over 215 litres per square metre fell in the region during the 1st of September. This phenomenon exposes the poor urban planning of the Southern Catalan coast. The growth of towns at the mouths of the streams has caused hundreds of victims since the mid-twentieth century. Meanwhile, Tarragona is the Catalan region most at risk of desertification. In the photograph, a neighbor observes the destruction of the port of the town. Cases d'Alcanar, September 2021.
A metal foundry. Where raw materials from mining activities are transformed into machining parts. Strip mining destroys landscapes, forests and wildlife habitats at the site of the mine when trees, plants, and topsoil are cleared from the quarry. Barcelona, March 2021.
Burning car, an old BMW set on fire by the visual artist Ada Zielinska. Almeria is a land of special effects and art projects due to its environment: the only desert in Europe. San Juan de los Terreros, August 2020.
Instead of water, there’s football. Young Senegalese men enjoy a game each day at 7 pm, excluding Mondays, on the outskirts of Cuevas del Almanzora (Almeria). The Almanzora River, which flows nearby, has almost completely dried out due to droughts and agricultural practices in the area. Cuevas del Almanzora, August 2021.
A tree affected by plastic waste from 'Mar de Plástico'. San Juan de los Terreros, June 2021.
Marbella's forest, in Southern Spain. Here, rangers look to hunt down arsonists and poachers. Meanwhile, few kilometers away, the luxury tourism wreaks havoc in the interior of Andalusia: depopulating it, abandoning it and slowly desertifying it. Marbella, September 2021.
A clean laboratory almost empty, affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Sener Aeroespacial is a Spanish aerospace research and engineering company, with a vocation on monitoring and knowing the nature and scope of the problems caused by human activity, such as desertification. Barcelona, February 2021.
A woman photographs the sunset atop the town of Mojácar, in southeastern Spain, the driest region in Europe. Mojácar, June 2021.
Always on. Pubs like ‘Emilio Bar’ from Benferri kept the news on in the background for much of the time during the storms that wiped out the town. Benferri, September 2019.
