'Drought tourism': Lake dries up and underwater church becomes 'selfie fodder'

THIS SUMMER'S drought has proven a mixed blessing for a Barcelona-province town and its visitors – a swamp has completely dried up, uncovering a church that had been underwater for decades.

Vilanova de Sau has seen an unprecedented influx of tourists since the Sant Romà church reappeared as Catalunya's reservoirs and lakes drop to an across-the-board 39% of their total capacity, some of them losing every drop of water.

This is the case with the Sau swamp, which filled up in 1962 after a dam was built in the river Ter, flooding out the dip in the land in the Guilleries-Savassona nature reserve.

Barely 38% full, with some parts literally dust, the entire church has never emerged before, although in past years during periods of drought, the water reduces enough to show part of the bell-tower and even the roofs of the now-defuct village of Sant Romà de Sau.

Thousands of people have been travelling from all over Spain to see it, thanks to what the town council calls 'the Instagram effect', and has even led to a whole new genre of holiday being named: 'Drought tourism'.

Such has been the furore that, from June 24 and, unless anything changes, until September 11, visitors now have to book one of 90 parking spaces a day to see the church, at a cost of €5, or €2 for motorbikes.

Civil Protection volunteers, the 'countryside police' or Agencia Rural, and Catalunya's regional answer to the Guardia Civil, the Mossos d'Esquadra, are now on duty to make sure visitors do not leave a mess behind them or try to get in without prior booking. 

The Vic-Sau yacht club, operating from the swamp – or the parts that still have water – have complained that the booking system has come at their cost, since the extra payment and restrictions means they have been suffering last-minute cancellations and a drop in customers.

Spokespersons from the yacht club say the 'security measures are excessive'.

They contrast their situation with that of the Rialb swamp in Lleida, where tourists have flocked to see it at its lowest-ever water level, but where crowd numbers have been manageable, and also with that of Barcelona's Collserola Park – the Vallvidriera lake – where its lack of water has seen visitors leave in droves, as its attraction has always lain in being able to take a refreshing dip and then stopping for a picnic or in a café on the shores.

Vilanova de Sau's mayor, Joan Riera, is not so optimistic about the 'drought tourism' influx.

"We shouldn't be celebrating the increase in tourism, because it's a consequence of a natural disaster and is affecting our area negatively," he complains.

'Inconsiderate behaviour' such as littering, coupled with huge numbers of cars 'making it difficult for our residents to get in and out of town' due to 'hour-long tailbacks at the entrance', and 'people coming to take a quick selfie and then leaving us to clear up all their rubbish' has not sat well with Riera's local government.

"It's good that there's tourism and that people enjoy the village and the valley, but this much of it is not good for us," Riera states.

"In the past few weeks, we've accumulated more refuse than the whole of the rest of the year, which generates huge costs for the council in dealing with it."

Sant Romà church is believed to be one of the oldest in Spain, built in 1061 in the Lombard Romanesque style, before it ended up at the bottom of a swamp 901 years later. 

With its bell-tower still in near-perfect conditions, it's also the world's deepest church – when the swamp is full, after normal, seasonal heavy rain, it sits 23 metres (about 75'6”) below the surface of the water.