Photos of an old monastery on display in Spain highlight just how critical the country’s drought has become.
The Benedictine monastery of Sant Salvador de la Vedella in Catalonia, Spain, was built in 830.
It is the only building from the old town of Sant Salvador de la Vedella that remains standing.
In 1976, the town was flooded by the Baells reservoir.
Since then, the monastery has normally been surrounded by water, which can be reached by kayak when the reservoir is full and on foot when it is low.
Now the tank is completely empty.
The “shocking” images from the Catalan Water Agency are a grim reminder that “we are in the exceptional phase,” the agency said.
A 2017 Instagram post shows what the remarkable monastery looks like when surrounded by water.
Drought levels in Spain reached “exceptional” levels in March, threatening access to drinking water for 6 million people in the Barcelona metropolitan area.
In Catalonia, about 75 kilometers north of Barcelona, the situation is critical, since the average levels of the reservoirs are around 27% of their capacity.
There are restrictions on the agricultural and industrial use of water, and it is prohibited to use potable water for washing cars or filling swimming pools.
Meanwhile, Spain as a whole has warmed 1.3 degrees Celsius (2 Fahrenheit) since the 1960s, the Associated Press reports.
It is a phenomenon that is noticeable throughout the year, but especially in summer, when average temperatures have risen 1.6 degrees.